In an attempt to break the deadlock in Ladakh, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh is scheduled to meet with his Chinese counterpart General Wei Fenghe on Friday night on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) ministerial meeting. in Moscow. This is the first major political contact between India and China since the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) unilaterally changed the status quo on the Royal Line of Control (LAC) in May 2020 in eastern Ladakh.
According to sources based in Moscow and Delhi, the meeting was organized at the urging of both sides to find a way out of the current stalemate in Ladakh with the Indian Army and the PLA deployed in full force to counter each other. That the Ladakh standoff will be the subject of discussion is evident from the presence of Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (East Asia) Naveen Srivastava in Moscow on Friday. Srivastava has held a series of talks with his Chinese counterpart in the framework of the consultation and coordination working mechanism on border issues between India and China towards the disconnection and reduction of the PLA in the disputed sectors.
The meeting between two defense ministers is crucial as Rajnath Singh is number two in Narendra Modi’s government and a former BJP chairman, Gen Wei, a former missile force commander, is a state councilor and member of the almighty Central Military Commission.
After this meeting, Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar is expected to meet his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the same platform in Moscow on September 10.
Also read: The curious link behind the Ladakh movements in China and the impending food crisis | Analysis
The ministerial-level meeting between India and China comes at a time when the PLA and the Indian army are locked in a tense stance in Ladakh and Aksai Chin busy with the former trying to impose the 1960 claim map (demarcated by a green line) on the ground. and the latter clarifies that his claim line (demarcated by a black line) is the true LAC.
While the PLA had initially made progress on the ground north of Pangong Tso in May and June, the Indian army has nullified dominance by repositioning itself on the heights overlooking finger four on the lake and making tactical advances on the southern shores of the lake in dispute to empty the Chinese troops.
“It is a game of pressure and time. The first to blink loses the game. The only way out is for both sides to restore the status quo ante and come out of the military dead end with respect, ”said a military commander.
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