India, China Hold Talks To Resolve Issue On Ladakh Border; No Breakthrough Achieved Yet: Report

Indian Army and China's People's Liberation Army held several meetings to resolve face-off in Eastern Ladakh at Line of Actual Control (LAC), however no breakthrough has taken place till Monday (25 May), sources said.

The last meeting took place on Sunday but many things remain unresolved, said source, adding that more commander level talks are in pipeline to resolve the issues.

Sources said, there have been five rounds of talks between military commanders on the ground but there is no breakthrough yet.

A top Indian Army officer said, "No breakthrough. Status quo is maintained." He also said that the situation will be resolved but Indian Army will continue with its construction work along the Line of Actual Control.

Sources said that there has been a troop build up on both sides and there are three to four places where there is an eye ball to eye ball situation since May 5. Across Line of Actual Control, both sides have deployed over 1000 troops in eyeball to eyeball situation at four places.

Indian Army is keeping a close watch in the Pangong Tso sector of Eastern Ladakh and the Galwan Valley region where the Chinese have enhanced deployment. Other than Pangong Tso that is extremely sensitive, the other places that are volatile in the wake of the recent escalation are Trig Heights, Demchok and Chumar in Ladakh which forms western sector of the India-China frontier.

While the disengagement took place in Eastern Ladakh after troops came to blows on May 5 and were involved in a face-off till the morning of May 6 when troops from both sides clashed leaving several injured. Sources said that there was a massive troop build up by China on their side not too far away from the point of the stand-off.

It was also observed that enhanced patrolling is being carried out by China in Pangong Lake. They have also increased numbers of boats.

The face-offs were triggered by Indian road construction and development of infrastructure the Chinese objected to. However, Indian army has maintained that there is no continuing face-off at the Pangong lake and there is no build up of armed troops in the area.

On Friday, Indian Army chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane visited Leh, the headquarters of 14 Corps in Ladakh, and reviewed security deployment of forces along Line of Actual Control with China. He held a meeting with Northern Command (NC) chief Lieutenant General Y.K. Joshi and the 14 Corps commander Lieutenant General Harinder Singh and other officers to know the ground situation at forward locations along the Line of Actual Control. Later, he returned to Delhi.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)