Ladakh Disengagement Hits Road Block As China Refuses Consent To India's Proposals

No forward movement was made on the issue of disengagement at the remaining friction points in eastern Ladakh during the 13th round of Corps Commander level talks with China in Moldo-Chushul on Sunday (10 October), the Indian Army said in a statement issued earlier today.

Before the talks on Sunday, reports said that the two sides were close to a deal on disengagement of troops in the Hot Springs area or Patrolling Point 15, which lies around 30 km north of Gogra.

However, after the talks, the People's Liberation Army of China accused India of making "unreasonable and unrealistic demands".

"India still insisted on the unreasonable and unrealistic demands, which made the negotiations more difficult," the spokesperson of China's Western Theatre Command said, according to the People's Daily.

"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," the spokesperson added.

The Indian statement says that the Chinese side did not come up with any "forward looking proposals" on the issue of disengagement and was "not agreeable" to India's "constructive suggestions" for the resolution of issues at the remaining friction points in eastern Ladakh.

"The meeting thus did not result in resolution of the remaining areas," the statement issued by the Indian Army read.

The development comes at a time when the 'LoCisation' of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) looks increasingly inevitable with China building shelters and other infrastructure to sustain its deployments.

Army chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane has raised concerns on China's continued deployment of forces across the LAC, saying that the frontier could be headed towards "a kind of LC (Line of Control) situation" if China continues to maintain the deployment of its forces through the winters for the second year in a row.

"...if they continue to stay there through the second winter, it definitely means that we will be in a kind of LC (Line of Control) situation (referring to the Indian and Pakistani deployments on the LoC), though not an active LC as is there on the western front," he said.

The army chief also said that China continues to maintain its deployments along the LAC and is also developing infrastructure.

"Yes, it is a matter of concern that the large-scale build-up has occurred and continues to be in place, and to sustain that kind of a build-up, there has been an equal amount of infrastructure development on the Chinese side," General Naravane said at the Indian Today conclave.

It means they are here to stay, he noted.

"So, it means that they (PLA) are there to stay. We are keeping a close watch on all these developments, but if they are there to stay, we are there to stay too," he has been quoted by the PTI as saying.

If the Chinese army will remain deployed along the LAC, so will the Indian Army, the army chief said.