Published 19:31 IST, October 5th 2020
PM Modi & China's President Xi Jinping to interact first time since Galwan at BRICS Summit
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping will be interacting in the upcoming BRICS summit on November 17 - a first since Galwan clashes
In a massive development ahead of India-China's 7th round of LAC talks, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping will be interacting via video conference in the upcoming BRICS summit on November 17. This will be the first interaction between the two country heads since the fateful clash between India-China along LAC in Galwan clashes where 20 soldiers were martyred. No breakthrough has occurred between the two countries yet over the LAC standoff, but no provocative action has been sparked either since September 10- when a five-point consensus was reached upon.
7th round of LAC talks
This development comes ahead of 7th round of talks between the Corps Commanders on October 12. After six rounds of military talks and five rounds of Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) talks, the next talks too will include an MEA diplomat - Naveen Srivastava along with the XIV Corps Commander headed by Lt General P G K Menon, taking over from Lt General Harinder Singh. In the previous round of talks, the two sides which met after 50 days, had a candid and in-depth exchange of views on stabilizing the situation along the LAC, agreeing to stop sending more troops to the frontline and refraining from unilaterally changing the situation on the ground.
Defence Minister on LAC
During the monsoon session, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh made a statement on the LAC situation in both the Houses of Parliament. He affirmed that the Armed Forces were capable of facing any challenge from China. While acknowledging that the situation at the LAC is very different both in terms of the scale of troops involve and the number of friction points, he reiterated India's commitment for a peaceful resolution of the dispute. Moreover, the two countries' foreign ministers have reached to a five-point consensus on continuing dialogue and quickly disengage, while honouring all existing agreements and protocol on China-India boundary affairs.
Chinese Army pulls back
Over several rounds of Indo-China talks, the Chinese People's Liberation Army has retreated from the Finger 4 area and Patrol point 14 along the LAC, while India pre-empted PLA activity on the Southern Bank of Pangong Tso Lake capturing positions of 'strategic importance' in the Fingers area. While China has retreated from Galwan Valley, they are currently around Finger 5 area near the Pangong Tso Lake, with large troops and equipment in the 5-km stretch from Finger 5 to 8. India and China's Foreign Ministers have reached a 5-point consensus recently on LAC. 20 jawans were martyred on June 5-6 amid a violent face-off between Indo-China troops at LAC's Galwan Valley.
Updated 19:31 IST, October 5th 2020