While India pushed for a wider disengagement, China’s refusal to discuss Demchok and Depsang had stalled all further progress in the talks.
While India pushed for a wider disengagement, China’s refusal to discuss Demchok and Depsang had stalled all further progress in the talks.
deadlock in talks between India and China will end the standoff In Eastern Ladakh The 16th round of Corps Commander talks held on 17 July did not yield any success.
In the interim, both sides agreed to maintain “security and stability” on the ground in the Western Sector. line of actual control (LAC), said a joint statement issued late on 18 July.
“The two sides agreed to remain in close contact and maintain dialogue through military and diplomatic channels and to work on mutually acceptable solutions to the remaining issues at the earliest,” the statement said. The talks were held from the Indian side at the Chushul-Moldo border meeting place and lasted for more than 12 hours.
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Based on the progress made in the last meeting on March 11, 2022, the two sides continued discussions to resolve related issues along the LAC in the Western Region “in a constructive and forward-looking manner”.
Keeping in view the guidance provided by the state leaders to work at the earliest to resolve the remaining issues, there was a frank and thorough exchange of views between them in this regard, the statement said. It said: “Both sides reaffirmed that the resolution of the remaining issues will help restore peace and tranquility along the LAC in the western region and enable progress in bilateral relations.”
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Demchok and Depsang
While agreement to break away from Patrolling Point-15 was close in the last few rounds of talks, China declined to discuss other friction zones, Demchok and Depsang, saying they were not part of the current standoff, any Progress has stopped. , India is pushing for widespread disengagement and de-escalation of tensions to end the ongoing standoff in eastern Ladakh.
Since the standoff began in May 2020, the two sides have so far held 15 rounds of Senior Military Commander talks with the disengagement from both sides of Pangong Tso in February 2021 and PP 17 in the Gogra-Hot Springs area in August Huh. , in addition to the following galvan in 2020 After a violent clash. The 15th round of Corps Commander talks took place on March 11, 2022.
Soon after the 15th round of talks in March, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited India,
Too, Last week he and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar had met On the sidelines of the G20 Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Bali where they discussed the situation on the LAC.
Close to the LAC, more than 50,000 troops and heavy equipment continue to be deployed on both sides. In the past two years, China has built massive amounts of infrastructure, housing and support structures to maintain troops close to the LAC, changing the ground situation.