India-China talks: Concerns raised on PLA massing troops in eastern Ladakh

NEW DELHI | SEPT 11, 2020 (PTI): 

India strongly raised the deployment of a large number of troops and military equipment by China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh and conveyed its concern during the talks between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Moscow, government sources said on Friday.

The Indian delegation raised the issue of the Chinese People's Liberation Army(PLA) massing troops in eastern Ladakh as the two foreign ministers reached a five-point agreement that will guide the two countries in resolving the border standoff in eastern Ladakh. The meeting in Moscow on Thursday evening lasted two-and-a-half hours.

Jaishankar and Wang were in the Russian capital to attend a meeting of foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

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At the talks, the government sources said the Indian side conveyed to the Chinese delegation that the presence of a large concentration of the PLA troops was not as per the bilateral pacts of 1993 and 1996 on border affairs.

China has deployed a large number of troops and weapons along the LAC in the last few weeks after the border standoff erupted in early May.

The Indian delegation also conveyed to the Chinese side that the provocative behaviour of the PLA at friction points on the LAC showed its disregard for bilateral agreements and protocols.

"The Indian side clearly conveyed that it expected full adherence to all agreements on (the) management of border areas and would not countenance any attempt to change the status quo unilaterally. It was also emphasized that the Indian troops had scrupulously followed all agreements and protocols pertaining to the management of the border areas," said a source.

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Jaishankar told Wang that maintenance of peace and tranquillity on the border areas was essential to the forward development of ties, the government sources said.

The external affairs minister also conveyed to his Chinese counterpart that the recent incidents in eastern Ladakh inevitably impacted the development of the bilateral relationship.

Therefore, he told Wang that an urgent resolution of the current situation was in the interest of both the nations, the sources said.

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The Indian side insisted that the immediate task should be to ensure a comprehensive disengagement of troops in all the friction areas and that it was necessary to prevent any untoward incident in the future, the sources added.

The sources said a final disposition of the deployment of troops to their permanent posts and the phasing out process is to be worked out by the military commanders of the two sides.

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