Let India cherish ‘positive trend’ at LAC, says China

Both sides should adhere to consensus reached in previous talks: PLA spokesman

Beijing: With no forward movement at the latest round of Sino-India military talks on disengagement from the remaining areas in eastern Ladakh, the Chinese military has said that India should cherish the “current positive trend” of de-escalation and cooling down of tensions in the border area. The Chinese side came to the talks with a “premeditated mindset” and did not show any flexibility in moving forward on the disengagement process at the friction points in eastern Ladakh.

Beijing, April 11: With no forward movement at the latest round of Sino-India military talks on disengagement from the remaining areas in eastern Ladakh, the Chinese military has said that India should cherish the “current positive trend” of deescalation and cooling down of tensions in the border area.

A day after the 11th round of corps commander-level talks that lasted for 13 hours, the Indian Army said in a statement on Saturday that both sides held a detailed deliberation on the disengagement of troops in the remaining friction points of Hot Springs, Gogra and Depsang in eastern Ladakh and agreed to jointly maintain stability on the ground, avoid any new incidents and resolve the outstanding issues in an “expeditious manner”.

There was no visible forward movement at the latest round of military talks between the two countries as the Chinese delegation came to the talks with a “premeditated mindset” and did not show any flexibility in moving forward on the disengagement process at the remaining friction points in eastern Ladakh, people familiar with the negotiations said in New Delhi on Saturday.

In its press release on the latest round of talks between two militaries held on April 9, China’s PLA said India should cherish the de-escalation and cooling in the border area, in an apparent reference to the disengagement of troops from the most contentious area of the Pangong Lake in February.

Both sides should also adhere to the consensus reached in the previous talks, the state-run China Global Television Network on Sunday quoted the press release by a PLA spokesperson on the talks held at the Chushul border point on the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh.

The Indian Army statement said it was highlighted at the talks that completion of disengagement in other areas would pave the way for considering “deescalation of forces”.

◗ THERE WAS no visible forward movement at the latest round of military talks between the 2 countries as the Chinese delegation came to the talks with a ‘premeditated mindset’, people familiar with the negotiations said in New Delhi