Form of words:
New Delhi: Little effort is being made to de-escalate tensions in the final round of India-China Corps Commander-level talks. Sections of India’s strategic community are concerned that the prospect of a confrontation could get worse on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, and Beijing cannot continue with regular lines of communication.
While India was not expected to agitate over disengagement plans, this time due to China’s recent actions to deploy more troops along the LAC, Beijing’s remarks this time that India had made “Unreasonable demands” have prompted Strategic Sources to Trust in New Delhi ThePrint has learned that this could lead to a ‘Galwan-like’ flare.
According to sources, the coming winter where Indian soldiers can be difficult, By March-April next year, there could also be a new round of violence, including the possible use of firearms..
Sources also said that this time the Chinese had also indicated to “change their approach” on the lines of communication.
Ever since the LAC standoff began in April-May 2020, both sides have mainly followed a three-pronged approach – at the diplomatic and military level along with a dialogue track between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart regular talks. Wang Yi.
Above all there was a conversation between national security advisor Ajit Doval and top Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi. It was Doval and Yang who agreed to a dissolution plan in 2020.
Sources said the talks failed this time as China has replaced General Xu Qiling, who was promoted in July. General Wang Haijiango, and consequently a “comfort level” was not achieved.
General Wang is the fourth commander of Western Theater Command since the standoff began. The decision to bring him in in September was taken by the Central Military Commission (CMC), which heads the PLA.
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sticky issues
While there has been disruption in Pangong Tso area and Gogra Post, standoff continues at Patrolling Point 15 (PP15) in Hot Springs, Depsang Plains and Demchok area.
There are six to seven hotlines between India and China but little progress has been made in talks. A major plan to address this issue with the setting up of hotlines at the DGMO level remains unfulfilled.
According to a source, this winter the two sides will face-to-face. But India is fully prepared to face any kind of challenge.
“hot Springs And Demchok continues to face challenges. The Chinese have now made it a sovereignty issue, which is worrying. Earlier they were saying that this is just a regional issue. This should be looked into,” said Lt Gen Rakesh Sharma (retd), a Distinguished Fellow at the Center for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS).
“Such a situation has never happened in history. This is nothing like what happened in other border incidents with China,” Sharma said. “We cannot match it… India may have to come up with a new proposal to continue talks with the Chinese. And we should stop talking about peace and harmony all the time. In Tawang also the situation has started getting worse now.”
India holds close talks with China
The last round of military-level talks was on 11 October, which was on 13 October.th Between the armies of the two countries, both sides saw some strong exchange of words.
While India said it made some constructive suggestions to resolve the remaining areas, it found that the Chinese side “did not agree and could not even make any forward-looking proposals”.
Meanwhile, the Chinese PLA said that India “still abided by its unreasonable and unrealistic demands, which added difficulties to the talks”.
“In the past year and a half, India-China bilateral relations have deteriorated as before and will continue to deteriorate further. So the country has to be prepared for the coming change,” said former Indian ambassador to China Gautam Bambawale.
“Unlike last time, the Indian Army is now very well prepared for winters, with better infrastructure and better provisioning.”
India also criticized China for its remarks on Vice President Venkaiah Naidu’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh on Wednesday.
“Arunachal Pradesh is an integral and inseparable part of India. Indian leaders regularly visit the state of Arunachal Pradesh like they do in any other state in India. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi on Wednesday said that objecting to the visit of Indian leaders to India does not stand up to the logic and understanding of the Indian people.
“Further, as we have mentioned earlier, the current situation along the LAC in the western sector of the India-China border areas is due to unilateral efforts by the Chinese side to change the status quo in violation of bilateral agreements,” added Bagchi.
“Therefore, we expect the Chinese side to work towards an early resolution of the remaining issues along the LAC in eastern Ladakh by fully adhering to bilateral agreements and protocols, rather than trying to connect unrelated issues.”
He was reacting to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian’s comments that the Chinese government has never recognized “the so-called Arunachal Pradesh established unilaterally and illegally by the Indian side” and strongly criticized the Indian leader’s visit to the region. has opposed.
(Edited by Arun Prashant)
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