India and China made little headway at the marathon talks held on Monday between corps commanders of the two countries though the two sides agreed to disengage troops as early as possible to resolve the ongoing stand-off at the LAC.
“Both sides are of the view that the meeting was positive and constructive and agreed to earnestly implement the important understandings reached by the leaders of the two countries not to turn differences into disputes and jointly safeguard peace and tranquillity in the border areas,” said a joint Press release issued by the two countries after the seventh round of military-level talks.
It said the two sides agreed to maintain dialogue and communication through military and diplomatic channels and arrive at a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution to disengage as early as possible.
It said the two sides had a sincere and in-depth exchange of views and enhanced understanding of each other’s position on the disengagement of their frontline troops along the LAC on the western sector of the India-China boundary.
The talks, which began around 12:30 p.m. on Monday at Chushul, concluded around 11:30 p.m.
The Indian delegation at the talks was led by Lt Gen Harinder Singh of the 14 Corps based in Leh, and included Lt Gen P G K Menon who is expected to take over from Singh later this month. It also included Naveen Srivastava, Joint Secretary in-charge of China in the External Affairs Ministry, who also participated in the discussions with the Chinese on 21 September in Moldo.
At yesterday’s meeting, India insisted on restoration of status quo ante of early May and comprehensive disengagement of troops by China from all the friction points in eastern Ladakh to resolve the stand-off, sources said.
Indian forces had taken an aggressive stand and occupied several strategic heights on the southern and northern Pangong Lake area preempting Chinese attempts to take them over.
As the border stand-off entered the sixth month, an early resolution to the row appeared dim with close to 100,000 Indian and Chinese troops remaining deployed in the high-altitude region and showing readiness for a long-haul.