With no sign of disengagement along LAC by China, Delhi pins hopes on diplomacy
New Delhi, Nov 08: The situation along the Line of Actual Control in Eastern Ladakh remains tense with both China and India hardening their stance. The last round of talks between the military commanders was held four weeks back and there has been an impasse since.
Both sides have around 60,000 troops each in addition to advanced weaponry. The US last week in a report said that Beijing was taking incremental and tactical actions to press its claims in the LAC. This was taking place despite Beijing participating in talks with India to resolve the ongoing crisis which began last year.
Officials tell OneIndia that any breakthrough that could happen would have to be at the diplomatic level. While military level talks are important, it is very crucial that this issue has to be sorted out at the diplomatic level only, the official also said.
On October 9, the Indian Army chief, General M M Naravane had said that there is no end in sight to the standoff. He said that if the People's Liberation Army is there to stay in the Ladakh theatre, then so is the Indian Army.
Meanwhile the annual report of the United States Department report on military developments involving China also referred to the creation of a 100 home Chinese village in Arunachal Pradesh.
"Sometime in 2020, the People's Republic of China built a large 100-home civilian village inside disputed territory between the PRC's Tibet Autonomous Region and India's Arunachal Pradesh state in the eastern sector of the LAC," the report said in a chapter about the China-India border standoff.
"These and other infrastructure development efforts along the India-China have been a source of consternation in the Indian government and media," the report also said.
"Despite the ongoing diplomatic and military dialogues to reduce border tensions, the PRC has continued taking incremental and tactical actions to press its claims at the LAC," the report noted.
"In February 2021, the Central Military Commission (CMC) announced posthumous awards for four PLA soldiers, though the total number of PRC casualties remains unknown," the report noted while referring to the Galwan Valley clash.
"Asserting that its deployments to the LAC were in response to Indian provocation, Beijing has refused to withdraw any forces until India's forces have withdrawn behind the PRC's version of the LAC and ceased infrastructure improvements in the area," the report also said.