LAC talks: India holds firm, seeks restoration of status quo ante with China in 5th meet

India has made it clear to the China side that it will not accept anything less than status quo ante on the Line of Actual Control, that existed prior to the first week of April this year, as per sources.

As the Corps Commander of the Indian Army and China's Peoples' Liberation Army held the fifth round of meeting Sunday, the Indian side is said to have made it clear to the Chinese side that to pave the way for any further dialogue the Chinese side must first move back.

“The Indian delegation in all the five meetings have told their Chinese counterparts to abide by all the agreements that both the armies have reached in all these years and must maintain the status quo ante”, a source privy to the dialogue said.

He said that after verification on the ground it has been found that while some of the disengagement conditions have been met by the Chinese side, but a lot needs to be done so as to ensure that the “situation” can be termed complete normal.

“A complete disengagement on the places of conflict was what both the corps commanders had agreed during the previous meetings, while some progress was seen but again there is a lot that needs to be done by the Chinese side”, the source said.

He said that the Indian side doubts the sincerity of the Chinese army as they “stabbed in the back”, in the month of June when India lost 20 of its brave heart during the violence that was reported on June 15.

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“During the first meeting, the Chinese side agreed to dismantle their tents from Galwan valley and would move back, but after few days they came back which led to violence in which 20 our brave men lost their lives, more than 40 Chinese soldiers were also killed”, another source said.

The sources say that after the first four rounds of the meetings, some progress was witnessed on the ground, but the Chinese side needs to do a lot to ensure that the situation of the ground terms normal.

“To maintain peace and tranquility on the Line of Actual Control, India and China have signed several agreements and to ensued peace on the LAC both the sides need to follow those agreements religiously,” another source said.

The fifth round of the meeting that started at 11 am on Sunday was still going on at the time of filing this report.

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