New Delhi: After discussing the border tensions between India and China with the US, New Delhi has also apprised Moscow of the latest developments along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh, ThePrint has learnt.
This comes at a time when two Lieutenant General-rank officers from India and China are scheduled to meet Saturday for talks to seek a way out and de-escalate tensions in Galwan River valley and Pangong Tso area.
According to a top official source, Russian Ambassador to India Nikolay R. Kudashev had “requested a briefing on this (LAC) matter which we obliged, given our strategic partnership”.
This was believed to have been discussed during a meeting between Kudashev and Foreign Secretary Harsh V Shringla on 2 June.
“Foreign Secretary @harshvshringla was pleased to connect with Ambassador @NKudashev of Russia to discuss the agenda of India-Russia engagements in the months ahead and to take stock of bilateral and regional issues of mutual interest,” Anurag Srivastava, spokesperson, Ministry of External Affairs, said in a tweet Tuesday.
Foreign Secretary @harshvshringla was pleased to connect with Ambassador @NKudashev of Russia to discuss the agenda of India-Russia engagements in the months ahead and to take stock of bilateral and regional issues of mutual interest. @RusEmbIndia pic.twitter.com/gz3XURU9pW
— Anurag Srivastava (@MEAIndia) June 2, 2020
During the meeting, sources said, India informed the Russian side what has happened so far between India and China in Ladakh where the standoff continues even as New Delhi is keen to resolve the situation at diplomatic as well as military levels.
It was made clear to the Russians that India is not keen on any “third-party intervention”, the sources added.
Also read:Modi, Jaishankar know Beijing better than most, & that could help defuse tension with China
India should not be fooled by US: China daily
The development comes at a time when Russia and China have come much closer than before with a new bonding shaping up between respective Presidents Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping apparently due to some of the policies of the present US administration.
Incidentally, the meeting with Russia happened the same day when India discussed the matter with the US and even stated it publicly in a press statement.
According to the statement issued by the MEA, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump discussed the “situation on the India-China border” over a 25-minute phone call.
Meanwhile, an article in Global Times, a leading English daily backed by the Chinese government, said, “India should not be fooled by the US. Washington is keen on placing a wedge between countries and drawing countries to its own side. But this serves the US’ strategic pressure on China, instead of other countries’ geopolitical interests.”
“But China will not give up any inch of territory. Once India makes a strategic misjudgement and nibbles away at China’s territory, China will never condone it. China is bound to make strong countermeasures. We believe India knows very well that China will not be at a disadvantage in any China-India military operations along the border area,” it said.
Also read:Stand-off with China in Ladakh is India’s worst border tension since Kargil in 1999