India expects China to come up with perception on LAC during next commander level talks

NEW DELHI, Oct 7, 2020, One India. In the next round of military commander level talks, India expects China to come up with its position on the perception on the Line of Control. This would be crucial to resolving the stand off at the six friction points. The situation on the ground remains the same. There is no change a top official told OneIndia. Both armies continue to face each other at the contested points and there has been no pull back, the official also confirmed.

The Chinese side it may be recalled had raised the 1959 LAC claim. India had however rejected China’s position that it abides by its 1959 stand on the perception of the Line of Actual Control(LAC), and asked the neighbouring country to refrain from advancing an “untenable unilateral” interpretation of the de-facto border. The stand by China spelt out by its foreign ministry insisting that it takes the 1959 line on perception of the LAC amid a nearly five-month-long border standoff in eastern Ladakh triggered a strong reaction from India.

India has never accepted the so-called unilaterally defined 1959 Line of Actual Control (LAC). This position has been consistent and well known, including to the Chinese side,” MEA Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said in response to a question by the media on the issue. India and China will hold the 7th round of military commander level talks on October 12. Incidentally these rounds of talks would the last for Lt Gen Harinder Singh.

Lt. General P G K Menon will take over the Fire and Fury Corps on October 14. The Fire and Fury Corps is responsible for the operations in Ladakh. Lt. Gen Menon is currently posted as the Additional Director of the Complaint Advisor Board at the Army Headquarters.

Officials familiar with the developments say that the situation remains complex. While there are hopes on the military commander level talks, the official says that the problem is that China is asking India to disengage first from the southern bank of Pangong Tso and the Rezlang La Ridgeline before the Chinese could go back from Finger Four on the noter bank of the lake.

The Indian Army continues to hold its ground on its perception of the Line of Actual Control. The Chinese on the other hand believe that the Indian forces have transgressed into their perception of the LAC.

During the military commander level talks India has insisted that the PLA withdraws from the Finger Four spur on the northern bank and also restore the status quo ante by going back to Finger Eight. This was the position as on April 2020 and India insists that the same be restored.

The PLA troop deployment continues to remain deployed in full strength. However the Air Force activity has come down. The Indian Army continues to remain in a high state of alert as it suspects a Chinese move to transgress into the Indian side of the LAC post October 15, when the snowfall begins.