New Delhi: India has called for “comprehensive disengagement” with China at all friction areas in the Ladakh sector of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) even as the two sides have deployed heavy troops at the border amid a fierce stand-off that has been on since May.
This comes after India and China held the 19th meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) on 30 September, followed by the 7th meeting of Senior Commanders in Chushul on 12 October.
“As you are aware, India and China continue to have discussions through both diplomatic and military channels to peacefully resolve the issues along the LAC in India-China Border areas. This is in keeping with the agreement reached between the two Foreign Ministers during their meeting in Moscow on 10 September 2020. The immediate task is to ensure a comprehensive disengagement of troops in all the friction areas,” said Anurag Srivastava, spokesperson, Ministry of External Affairs Thursday.
He added, “The two sides have reiterated their desire to maintain dialogue and communication through military and diplomatic channels, and arrive at a mutually acceptable solution for disengagement as early as possible. We continue to remain engaged with the Chinese side and will let you know when there is further information to share.”
India-US likely to discuss China border standoff
India is also expected to discuss the issue in detail with the US next week during the upcoming visit of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defence Secretary Mark T. Esper on 26-27 October, diplomatic sources told ThePrint.
Pompeo and Esper will be in New Delhi to attend the third round of India-US 2+2 ministerial meeting.
However, this is not the first time that India will be discussing this issue with the US. During the last round of the Quad foreign ministers’ meeting held in Tokyo on 6 October, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar is believed to have discussed the matter at length with his American counterpart Pompeo on the margins of that meeting.
Meanwhile, the navies of the US, India, Japan and Australia are expected to carry out the Malabar 2020 Exercise next month, transforming it into a quadrilateral maritime drill from its present India-US-Japan trilateral format.
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