India expects China PLA to reduce its troops in Ladakh

■ ‘Two sides will continue meetings at military, diplomatic levels’

Strongly indicating that it expected the Chinese People’s Liberation Army to reduce its force levels in the Ladakh sector, India on Thursday said it expected China to “sincerely follow up” on its assurances on deescalation to “ensure the expeditious restoration of peace and tranquillity” in the border areas as per agreements between the two sides, adding that India would continue its meetings with China both at the military and diplomatic level to resolve the border tensions. New Delhi sought to remind Beijing that “both sides have emphasised the need for an expeditious, phased and step wise de-escalation as a priority”. India said the latest Senior Commanders Meeting held on Tuesday at Chushul “reflected the commitment of both sides to reduce the tensions along the LAC”. But clearly dismissing Chinese objections to the recent Indian move to ban 59 Chinese Apps on national security grounds, New Delhi also pointed out that India has one of the “most open regimes in the world for attracting Foreign Direct Investment ”, companies operating in India “have to abide by our (government) rules and regulations”.

The responses by the ministry of external affairs (MEA) at its briefing on Thursday evening, came less than a day after India raised the issue concerning

developments in Hong Kong at the UN in Geneva. After Beijing passed a new controversial law giving it more powers over Hong Kong that resulted in fresh protests in the region, India had said that it is keeping a close watch on developments

in Hong Kong due to the presence of a large Indian community there.

In what is being seen as a dig at China, New Delhi had said it hoped the issue would be addressed “properly, seriously and objectively”.

◗ NEW DELHI sought to remind Beijing that ‘both sides have emphasised the need for an expeditious, phased and step wise de-escalation as a priority’.