Revert to April status quo, India tells China in talks

One meeting won’t yield a solution, say officials after 5-hr high-level talks

India on Saturday asked China to revert to the status quo of April 2020 at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Ladakh sector during the high-level military talks between the top commanders of the two armies.

The Indian Army’s 14 Corps Commander Lt. Gen. Harinder Singh and the People’s Liberation Army’s South Xinjiang Military Region commander, Maj. Gen. Liu Lin, had an over five-hourlong meeting to try to resolve the month-long standoff between the two armies at the LAC.

Though no official statement was issued by the Indian government till filing of the story, official sources said that India has asked China to reduce the build-up of its troops at the LAC and revert to the status quo of April in Pangong Tso, Hot Springs and Galwan Valley. The Chinese side reportedly objected to road construction at the LAC which has increased the Indian Army’s capability to mobilise troops faster in the mountainous

Official sources said that India has asked China to reduce the build-up of its troops at the LAC and revert to the status quo of April in Pangong Tso, Hot Springs and Galwan Valley

The Chinese side reportedly objected to road construction at the LAC which has increased the Indian Army’s capability to mobilise troops faster in the mountainous terrain of Ladakh.

terrain of Ladakh. However, India pointed out that all construction activity was going on well within Indian territory.

Sources said that though India sought that China should act on the various agreements signed by the two sides to bring down tensions at the LAC, the situation is not expected to be resolved by a single meeting.

The meeting between the two sides began at around 11:30 am in the morning in Moldo on the Chinese side. After the meeting Army officials briefed Northern Army Commander Lt. Gen. Y.K. Joshi and Army Chief Gen. M.M. Naravane on its outcome. The Army officials also briefed the

NSA Ajit Doval, CDS Gen. Bipin Rawat and ministry of external affairs. A detailed briefing was also given to the PMO on the meeting. A series of meetings were still going on between the top security and military officials on the issue of India-China standoff at the LAC.

Early on Saturday, Chinese state-owned media had said that India should immediately stop provocative acts along the border and respect China’s stance on the common border, “otherwise deadlock will not be truly resolved.”

But Global Times said that after Saturday’s high-level meeting, the two militaries will cease operations “to certain extent.”