India and China failed to make headway on resolving the ongoing military stand-off at Eastern Ladakh at the 13th round of talks held between their Corps Commanders, putting a big question mark over the disengagement process.
It is learnt that the Chinese side bluntly refused to disengage from the Hot Springs area, Depsang Plains and Demchok areas, as proposed by the Indian side.
”During the meeting, the Indian side made constructive suggestions for resolving the remaining areas but the Chinese side was not agreeable and also could not provide any forward-looking proposals. The meeting thus did not result in resolution of the remaining areas,” said a statement issued today by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) on the talks held at the Chushul-Moldo border yesterday.
The statement said the two sides have agreed to maintain communications and also to maintain stability on the ground. ”It is our expectation that the Chinese side will take into account the overall perspective of bilateral relations and will work towards early resolution of the remaining issues while fully abiding by bilateral agreements and protocols,” it added.
During the meeting,the Indian side pointed out that the situation along the LAC had been caused due to unilateral attempts by China to alter the status quo in violation of the bilateral agreements.
Indian Army personnel told their Chinese counterparts that it was necessary that the Chinese side take appropriate steps in the remaining areas so as to restore peace and tranquility along the LAC in the Western Sector.
This would also be in accord with the guidance provided by the two foreign ministers in their recent meeting in Dushanbe where they had agreed that the two sides should resolve the remaining issues at the earliest.
The Indian side emphasised such resolution of the remaining areas would facilitate progress in the bilateral relations.
China, meanwhile, blamed the Indian side for the failure of the talks. “India still insisted on unreasonable and unrealistic demands, which made the negotiations more difficult,” a Chinese spokesperson said.
The failure of the talks is seen as a big setback to the disengagement process started by the two countries in February to end the military stand-off which began in April-May last year. The two countries pulled back their troops from the Pangong Tso Lake in February and Gogra Heights in August.