There was no breakthrough in the 13th round of military talks between India and China on Sunday to resolve the standoff in eastern Ladakh, ANI reported.
The two countries have been locked in a border standoff since their troops clashed in Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh in June last year. Twenty Indian soldiers were killed in the clash. China put the number of casualties on its side at four.
After several rounds of talks, India and China had disengaged from Pangong Tso Lake in eastern Ladakh in February. After the commander level talks on July 31, the two countries also agreed to disengage from Gogra.
India and China are now discussing ways to resolve pending matters in a quick manner.
During Sunday’s talks, India made constructive suggestions to resolve the tensions, the Indian Army said, according to ANI.
“But the Chinese side was not agreeable and also could not provide any forward-looking proposals,” it added. “The meeting thus did not result in the resolution of the remaining areas.”
India told China that its “unilateral attempts to alter the status quo” had led to tensions along the Line of Actual Control, the Army said.
Meanwhile, China claimed that India had insisted on “unreasonable and unrealistic demands”, which made the negotiations more difficult.
“China hopes the Indian side will not misjudge the situation, cherish the hard-won situation in the China-India border areas, show sincerity and take actions, and work with China to jointly safeguard peace and stability in the border areas.” China’s People’s Liberation Army said.
However, the two countries, agreed to continue communication and “maintain stability on the ground”.
“It is our expectation that Chinese side will take into account the overall perspective of bilateral relations and will work towards early resolution of the remaining issues,” the Indian Army said, according to ANI.
On Saturday, Chief of Army Staff MM Naravane had said that the deployment of Indian soldiers will remain along the Line of Actual Control if the Chinese military continues its “large-scale build-up” along the border in Ladakh.
“...there has been infrastructural build-up by the Chinese side and that means they are there to stay...” Naravane said. “If they are there to stay, we are there to stay too. The build-up on our side and developments on our side, I would say are as good as what the PLA [People’s Liberation Army] has done.”
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