PremiumAfter some mutual withdrawals, the confrontation between India and China on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) seems to be silent for now, but the military leadership of both countries is still engaged in consultations. Chief of India's Army Staff General Manoj Pandey affirmed on Saturday, that the situation in Ladakh is "stable but unpredictable."
The Army Chief was addressing 'Chanakya Dialogues', a think-tank, and informed that India is looking towards the next round of Corps Commander-level talks with China, to resolve the remaining issues. India and China have conducted 16 rounds of consultations which have resulted in considerable progress, but several issues are still unaddressed.
General Pandey also spoke about the constructions by the Chinese Army along the LAC and said that it is going on unabated. On the preparedness of the Indian Army, he affirmed that the winter posture of the Indian Army is in progress. He stressed on carefully calibrating India's "actions on LAC to be able to safeguard our interests and sensitivities."
Military experts are claiming that China is trying to project as if the dispute is over and will continue the construction activities in the disputed territories. India must not fall into the trap and should continuously push for a permanent resolution. For India, the normal should be the status quo before April 2020, when China intruded into Indian territory.
While speaking at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit, Union Minister for External Affairs, S. Jaishankar emphasized that relations with China can never be normal, until peace and tranquility on the LAC are restored.
"What happened in 2020 was an attempt by one party, and we know which one, to depart from agreements and that is at the heart of the issue. Now, have we made progress from then? In some respects Yes, I mean relatively speaking, there were multiple friction points with dangerously close deployments. Some of those issues have been worked out keeping in mind mutual security, but there are some issues that still need to be worked upon and we have to keep pushing for that. I believe that there will be a realization that the present state of relations is not even China's own interest," the minister said while speaking with Hindustan Time Editor-in-Chief Sukumar Ranganathan.