Informing about the ongoing discussion on disengagement along the LAC, External Affairs Ministry’s spokesperson Anurag Srivastav said that “achieving this requires agreed actions by both sides”. “The Complete disengagement requires re-deployment of troops by each side towards their regular posts on their respective sides of the LAC. It is natural that this can be done only through mutually agreed reciprocal actions,” he added.
Both sides have regularly reaffirmed to engage in accordance with the agreements reached between the two Foreign Ministers and the two Special Representatives (SRs) during their conversation on 5th July. Last week, during the 18th meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation & Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) the two sides had a candid and in-depth exchange of views on the existing situation and “have agreed to resolve the outstanding issues in an expeditious manner and in accordance with the existing agreements and protocols”, said the MEA spokesperson.
Earlier in the day, Spokesperson for China’s Ministry of National Defense, Senior Colonel Wu Qian, had commented that since the Galwan Valley clash, China and India have held several rounds of talks through military and diplomatic channels, and “progress has been made in disengaging the frontline troops of both sides. During the regular press conference in Beijing, he stressed that China and India are important neighbors and expected that India could work with China towards the same goal, bearing in mind the “big picture of bilateral ties and putting the border issue in an appropriate position in this big picture”.
However, the Govt. sources, when asked about the “progress” as claimed by Chinese, said, no fresh disengagement has happened by the Chinese side on the ground.
Meanwhile, India remains optimistic about easing the border tension through diplomatic dialogue. In a recent interview, the External Affairs Minister referring to various past border incidents said that what was common was that all border situations were resolved through diplomacy. EAM had further noted that “when it comes to finding a solution, this must be predicated on honouring all agreements and understandings and not attempting to alter the status quo unilaterally”.
Report By Abhishek Jha/ @abhishekjha157