New Delhi (NVI): India today put the onus on China for maintenance of peace and tranquility in border areas by saying that it expects Beijing to “sincerely” disengage and de-escalate completely in Ladakh.
“As we have stated earlier, the maintenance of peace and tranquillity in the border areas is the basis of our bilateral relationship. Therefore it is our expectation that the Chinese side will sincerely work with us for complete disengagement and de-escalation and full restoration of peace and tranquillity in the border areas at the earliest as agreed to by the Special Representatives,” External Affairs spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said here during weekly MEA briefing.
The MEA spokesperson said that China’s behaviour has been in complete disregard of all mutual agreements on LAC issue. He was referring to the border skirmishes between the Indian and Chinese troops at several points at LAC this year and most recently the violent clashes in Ladakh’s Galwan Valley in which 20 Indian soldiers lost their lives.
He said that several agreements concluded by India and China since 1993 firmly acknowledge that respecting and strictly abiding by the LAC is the basis of peace and tranquillity in the border areas.
“In my statement of June 26th, I had noted that the conduct of Chinese forces this year, including the deployment of large body of troops and changes in behaviour, accompanied by unjustified and untenable claims, has been in complete disregard of all the mutual agreements,” he said.
Srivastava made it clear in strongest terms that India will not accept any unilateral attempts to change the status quo along LAC.
“We have also made it clear that India is fully committed to observing and respecting the LAC and that we will not accept any unilateral attempts to change the status quo along the LAC,” he added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his recent visit to Ladakh, had said that the sacrifice of Indian soldiers who lost their lives in Galwan will not go waste.
Srivastava further said that the two sides have agreed during the conversation of the Special Representatives to work towards complete disengagement of the troops along the LAC and de-escalation from India-China border areas for full restoration of peace and tranquillity.
“Both sides are engaged in discussions through the established diplomatic and military channels to achieve this objective expeditiously. I had informed last week that the 4th round of the meeting of the Senior Commanders was held on 14th July, where they also discussed further steps to ensure complete disengagement,” he added.
The MEA spokesperson said that another meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation & Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) is also expected to be scheduled soon.
The MEA statement on China also comes a week after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh visited Ladakh where he said that India-China talks should resolve the border dispute, but to what extent, he can’t guarantee.
While addressing soldiers at Lukung post, Rajnath had also said that no country in the world can take away even an inch of land from India.
-ARK
