India and China are poised for another round of diplomatic and military talks to try to push the disengagement process along the Line of Royal Control (LAC), with New Delhi pushing on Thursday for stability at sticking points in the Ladakh sector.
A meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (CMMC) on border issues is expected to be held before the seventh round of talks between the military commanders, people familiar with the events said on condition of anonymity. The dates for both meetings have yet to be defined, they said.
The two sides had decided to have the next meeting of corps commanders “as soon as possible,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Anurag Srivastava said at a weekly press conference. “In parallel, the next WMCC meeting is likely to take place soon as well,” he said, without giving details.
The sixth meeting of corps commanders, held in Moldo, on the Chinese side of LAC, on September 21, ended without conclusions on the main issue of disengagement after more than 13 hours of talks. The commanders met after nearly 50 days, and the only breakthrough was a rare joint statement by the armies of the two sides who said they had agreed to stop sending more troops to the front and refrain from unilaterally changing the situation on the ground.
The Foreign Ministry, which was part of the military talks for the first time on Monday, insisted that adherence to this agreement would be key to the upcoming talks. “Even when the two sides work to achieve complete disconnection in all areas of friction, at the same time it is also necessary to ensure stability on the ground,” said Srivastava.
He added: “The way forward will be to refrain from making any attempt to unilaterally change the status quo, while the two sides continue their discussions to achieve complete disengagement in all areas of friction and to ensure the full restoration of peace and tranquility. in border areas. . ”
Srivastava also noted that this was the first joint statement issued after any meeting of corps commanders, and it reflected the “declared commitment of both parties to disconnect throughout LAC.” Disengagement, he noted, is a “complex process that requires the redeployment of troops by each side to their regular posts on their respective sides of LAC,” and this would require “mutually agreed reciprocal actions.”
The last meeting of the corps commanders gave them the opportunity to have candid and in-depth exchanges on stabilizing the situation throughout LAC, he said. The two sides also decided to strengthen ground communications to avoid further misunderstandings and wrong judgments, and to avoid any action that could complicate the situation, he said.
The people quoted above said India would stick to its demand for a comprehensive disengagement at all sticking points, rather than a piecemeal approach suggested by the Chinese side. India will also insist on restoring the status quo as it existed in April so that the ultimate goal of scaling back can be achieved throughout LAC, the people said.
China has been asking India to withdraw its troops from strategic heights on the southern shore of Lake Pangong as a prerequisite for disengagement at other sticking points, but this has been ruled out by the Indian side.
Before the last corps commanders meeting, the defense ministers of the two sides met in Moscow on September 4 and this was followed by talks between the two foreign ministers, also in Moscow, on September 10. The foreign ministers had reached an agreement on five – point roadmap for a comprehensive disengagement in all areas of friction.
Former Ambassador Rajiv Bhatia, Distinguished Fellow for Foreign Policy Studies at Gateway House, said that with the border confrontation now in its fifth month and winter about to begin, the effort on both sides appeared to be to prevent further escalation.
“However, I am still comforted by the desire on both sides to avoid further escalation, ensure stability and keep talking. It is a positive signal at the political level that there is a similar message from both sides, that this is not an armed conflict and that peaceful negotiations are the way to go, although there is a little less clarity in the messages from the Chinese side. ” . he said.
“Combined with the start of winter and some luck, there will be no more climbing as we wait for a breakthrough. Both parties need more time to resolve these complex issues. ”
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