India, China talks continue on road map to de-escalate

NEW DELHI: India and China are continuing diplomatic and military engagements for an “early resolution” of the stand-off between border troops, the external affairs ministry said on Thursday as people familiar with developments confirmed the build-up of Chinese forces extended to Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.

Earlier this week, the two sides began what Indian officials described as a “limited military disengagement” at three hotspots along the contested Line of Actual Control (LAC) – Galwan Valley, Patrolling Point 15 and Hot Springs – in eastern Ladakh, which has been the focus of the tensions.

However, last month’s violent confrontations between Indian and Chinese soldiers in eastern Ladakh and north Sikkim triggered a military build-up on both sides of the LAC that stretched from Ladakh to Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh, two senior officers said.

“We have noticed a Chinese military build-up across the length of the border, from the northern to the eastern sector. This is in their so-called ‘depth areas’ or pockets within the Chinese side of the LAC,” one of the officers said.

NEW DELHI: The external affairs ministry on Thursday side-stepped issues that have complicated a border row with Nepal, holding up the importance of long-standing bilateral relations and ongoing cooperation amid the Covid-19 crisis.

The move was perceived in diplomatic circles as an effort to dial down tensions that have spiralled in recent days, after the KP Sharma Oli government in Kathmandu tabled a constitutional amendment in Parliament to give legal backing to a political map that depicts the regions of Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura as Nepalese territory.

Asked at a weekly news briefing why India hadn’t responded to Nepal’s overtures for talks on the border dispute and Oli’s criticism of “threatening” remarks by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, external affairs ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said: “We have already made our position clear on these issues.”

India, Srivastava added, deeply values its ties with Nepal. “India has been reaching out to friendly neighbouring countries, including Nepal, in line with the prime minister’s initiative to chart out a common strategy to combat Covid in the region.”

Srivastava said India had supplied 25 tonnes of medical aid to Nepal.