India, China Agree On Need To Find Early Resolution To Remaining Issues Along LAC In Eastern Ladakh: MEA

India and China agreed on the need to find an early resolution to the remaining issues along the LAC in Eastern Ladakh while fully abiding by bilateral agreements and protocols.

New Delhi: India and China have reaffirmed that the military and diplomatic officials of the two sides should continue their discussions to resolve the remaining issues along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh. 

The 23rd meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation & Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) was held on Thursday. 

The Indian delegation was led by Additional Secretary (East Asia) from the Ministry of External Affairs. The Director-General of the Boundary & Oceanic Department of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs led the Chinese delegation, a statement by the MEA informed.

“The two sides recalled the agreement between the External Affairs Minister and the Foreign Minister of China during their meeting in September in Dushanbe that military and diplomatic officials of the two sides should continue their discussions to resolve the remaining issues along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh,” the Ministry of External Affairs informed. 

“Accordingly, the two sides had candid and in-depth discussions on the situation along the LAC in Western Sector of India-China Border Areas and also reviewed the developments since the last meeting of the Senior Commanders of both sides which was held on 10th October 2021,” it added. 

As per the official statement, India and China agreed on the need to find an early resolution to the remaining issues along the LAC in Eastern Ladakh while fully abiding by bilateral agreements and protocols so as to restore peace and tranquility. 

Furthermore, the two sides also agreed that both sides should in the interim also continue to ensure a stable ground situation and avoid any untoward incident.

“It was agreed that both sides should hold the next (14th) round of the Senior Commanders meeting at an early date to achieve the objective of complete disengagement from all the friction points along the LAC in the Western Sector in accordance with the existing bilateral agreements and protocols,” the MEA stated.

Earlier, the 13th round of military talks between India and China reached an impasse.

Indian Army in its statement had revealed that the Chinese side was not agreeable and “also could not provide any forward-looking proposals”.

On the other hand, China, in an aggressive response, accused India of “unreasonable and unrealistic demands”.

The tensions along LAC sparked the ongoing standoff between Chinese and Indian troops in mid-May 2020, which lasted through the winter.

The standoff escalated on June 15, 2020, after a skirmish ensued in the Galwan Valley in Ladakh between the Indian Army and PLA troops which resulted in casualties on both sides, including the deaths of 20 Indian soldiers.

In February 2021, the Central Military Commission (CMC) announced posthumous awards for four PLA soldiers, “though the total number of PRC casualties remains unknown,” a recent report by the US Department of Defense noted.

As of June 2021, the PRC and India continued to maintain large-scale deployments along the LAC and make preparations to sustain these forces while disengagement negotiations have made limited progress, it stated.