Indo-Sino border talks fail to resolve dispute
CHINA and India on Monday (11) blamed each other for the failure of high-level talks to ease tensions along a disputed Himalayan border.
The strategically important Galwan river valley between Tibet and India’s Ladakh region became a high-altitude flashpoint last year after one of the deadliest troop clashes in decades.
Senior military officials from the two countries held their first round of talks in two months, but it ended without any progress.
India made “unreasonable and unrealistic demands”, Chinese military spokesman Long Shaohua said in a statement issued by the People’s Liberation Army’s western theatre command. The statement did not say what the demands were.
Last Sunday (10), commanders met for the 13th time, with Indian officials emphasising that the confrontation had been triggered by “unilateral attempts of Chinese side to alter the status quo”, India’s defence ministry said in a statement.
“During the meeting, the Indian side therefore made constructive suggestions for resolving the remaining areas but the Chinese side was not agreeable and also could not provide any forwardlooking proposals,” the ministry said, adding that the meeting did not lead to a resolution.
India said both sides have agreed to maintain communications and stability.
The latest talks focused on resolving “remaining issues” along the LAC in eastern Ladakh, the Indian defence ministry said.
Long said China had tried to ease tensions along the boundary area, but warned India “not to misjudge the situation” and to act “in good faith”. India has blamed the tensions on what it calls unilateral moves by China to “alter the status quo”, in violation of existing bilateral agreements.
Earlier this month, India’s army chief said China was sending “considerable numbers” of troops to the border, prompting a matching deployment by Delhi.