Four years on, resolution to LAC standoff still elusive
Hindustan TimesThe military standoff between India and China in eastern Ladakh has entered its fifth year, with no indication of a resolution to the outstanding problems along the contested Line of Actual Control although India is hoping ongoing negotiations will result in restoring the status quo ante of April 2020, officials aware of the matter said on Monday. The talks have thus far resulted in four rounds of disengagement from Galwan Valley, Pangong Tso, Gogra and Hot Springs, but problems at Depsang and Demchok are still on the negotiating table The Indian Army and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army have held 21 rounds of corps commander-level of talks to cool tensions along the LAC, but the two sides still have tens of thousands of troops each and advanced weaponry deployed in Ladakh. The talks have thus far resulted in four rounds of disengagement from Galwan Valley, Pangong Tso, Gogra and Hot Springs, but problems at Depsang and Demchok are still on the negotiating table. “The PM’s clean chit to China four days later – when he said, ‘Na koi hamari seema mein ghus aaya hai, na hi koi ghusa hua hai ” – was a profound insult to our fallen soldiers and became the legitimisation of Chinese control over 2,000 sq km of land in eastern Ladakh.” “Leh’s Superintendent of Police has clearly shown that our troops were unable to reach 26 out of 65 patrolling points that they could access prior to 5 May 2020,” the statement added.