A day after India and China ended their three-week long face-off in Ladakh, the Indian government today said there was no “deal” with China, which also confirmed that the “stand off” has been “terminated” but did not mention whether the status quo in the sector as it existed prior to April 15 will be restored or not.
Dismissing speculation of any “deal” while resolving the situation, government sources said the two sides have only agreed to sit and talk about the peace and tranquillity along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) while restoring to the status quo in the sector.
Meanwhile, China stopped short of acknowledging that it’s troops, which had intruded 19 kms into Indian territory, were going back to position prior to April 15 but said the “stand off incident” has been resolved through “fruitful consultations”.
In Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswomen Hua Chunying said in a statement, “China and India have reached an agreement on resolving the incident in the western section of the border.
She added, “Since troops from the two sides began facing off in the western section of the China-India border last month, both sides have moved forward and adopted a constructive and cooperative attitude and calmed the tensions through border-related mechanisms, diplomatic channels and border defence meetings”.
In New Delhi, Spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs said India and China have agreed to restore status quo along Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh as it existed prior to April 15.
Announcing this, he also said flag meetings have been held to work out modalities and to confirm the arrangements.
The spokesperson also officially announced the two-day visit of External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid to China from Thursday.
Khurshid and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi “will discuss bilateral, regional and global issues of concern to both sides. They will also discuss the proposed visit to India of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang,” he said.
“I believe that both sides have the will and capability to properly resolve this incident as soon as possible and jointly maintain the healthy and stable growth of China-India relations,” she said.
Pressed for more details on the settlement, prompting Chinese troops to agree to dismantle their tents, Hua said “I need to follow closely the latest information”.
“As I said before the two sides bear in mind the larger interests of bilateral relations have taken a constructive and cooperative attitude and have maintained communication and consultation and have made positive progress,” she said.
Asked whether the Chinese troops moved back from their position, when did that happen and how far they withdrew, she replied, “I have said the two sides have been constructive and cooperative and have been maintaining communications through relevant mechanism in the border regions”.
“Relevant consultations have made positive progress. I know you are very concerned about this and I must tell you the correct information,” she said.
“I believe the Chinese and Indian sides should maintain peace and tranquillity in the border areas and work for the smooth development of bilateral relations,” she said.
