India-China faceoff: P Chidambaram questions MEA on restoration of status quo ante

Reacting to MEA's latest statement on the LAC faceoff, senior Congress leader and RS MP P Chidambaram on Friday welcomed the Centre's focus on "complete disengagement and de-escalation". However, he questioned the MEA on its statement omitting mention of demanding the restoration of the status quo ante as on May 5, 2020. According to him, the MEA had made another admission that China had changed the status quo. Moreover, Chidambaram contended that this was a rebuff to the claim that the Chinese troops had not intruded into India. 

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The India-China faceoff

20 Indian Army soldiers including a Commanding Officer were martyred when a violent faceoff took place on June 15 when the de-escalation process was underway in the Galwan Valley. As per the Editor-in-Chief of the Chinese newspaper Global Times, the Chinese side also suffered casualties during the physical clash. Both sides have held multiple rounds of diplomatic and military level meetings to resolve the situation. After the visit of PM Modi to Ladakh, there has been a lot of progress on disengagement at the LAC. 

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MEA's latest statement 

Addressing the media on Thursday, MEA official spokesperson Anurag Srivastava maintained that respecting and "strictly abiding" by the LAC is the basis of peace and tranquility in the border areas. He observed that the conduct of the Chinese forces in 2020 including the deployment of a large number of troops and unjustified claims have completely disregarded mutual agreements. He reiterated that India was not only fully committed to respecting the LAC but also shall not accept any unilateral attempts to change the status quo along the LAC.

At the same time, he referred to the conversation of the Special Representatives where the two nations agreed on working towards complete disengagement of the troops along the LAC and de-escalation from India-China border areas. Srivastava added that both sides are engaging through military and diplomatic channels to achieve this objective. Stressing that maintenance of peace and tranquility in the border areas is the basis of India-China bilateral relationship, the MEA official spokesperson expressed hope that the Chinese side would sincerely work with India for complete disengagement and de-escalation. 

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