Galwan face-off: India urges China to strictly respect LAC

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India on Wednesday conveyed its concern to China on the recent developments in Eastern Ladakh including on the violent face off in Galwan Valley area on June 15 and emphasised that “both sides should strictly respect and observe the Line of Actual Control”.

The two sides discussed in detail the developments in the India-China border areas, in particular the situation in Eastern Ladakh, during the meeting of 15th Meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) on border affairs on Wednesday. The Indian delegation during the meeting held through video-conferencing was led by Joint Secretary (East Asia) while Director-General of the Department of Boundary and Oceanic Affairs of the Chinese MFA led the Chinese delegation.

An External Affairs Ministry release said, “the two sides discussed in detail the developments in the India-China border areas, in particular, the situation in Eastern Ladakh”.

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“The Indian side conveyed its concerns on the recent developments in Eastern Ladakh, including on the violent face-off in Galwan Valley area on June 15 that had resulted in casualties. In this regard, it was emphasised that both sides should strictly respect and observe the Line of Actual Control (LAC),” the release said.

The two sides also agreed to maintain communication both at the diplomatic and military level, including under the framework of WMCC, to resolve the existing situation peacefully. The release said the two sides recalled the conversation last week between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi and reaffirmed that they should sincerely implement the understanding on disengagement and de-escalation that was reached by the Senior Commanders on June 6.

The two delegations agreed that implementation of this understanding expeditiously, in accordance with the bilateral agreements and protocols, would help ensure peace and tranquillity in border areas and the development of the broader relationship between the two countries.

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In this context, they also took note of the discussions in the second meeting of the Senior Commanders held on June 22, the release said. Indian Army 14 Corps Commander Lt Gen Harinder Singh and his Chinese counterpart on Monday held a meeting that lasted about 11 hours at the Border Personnel Meeting Point at Moldo to reduce the tensions between the two countries.

The commander-level talks were held after a violent face-off between Indian and Chinese troops in Galwan Valley in Ladakh on June 15. India lost 20 of its soldiers in the violent face-off and 10 Indian soldiers also were held captive and later released. Indian intercepts have revealed that the Chinese side suffered 43 casualties including dead and seriously injured.

India has said that the situation could have been avoided if the agreement at the higher level been scrupulously followed by the Chinese side. Following the face-off, China’s Vice Foreign Minister Luo Zhaohui and Indian Ambassador to China Vikram Misri met in Beijing on June 16.

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Jaishankar held telephonic talks with Wang on June 17 and conveyed that what happened in Galwan was a “pre-mediated and planned action that was directly responsible for the resulting violence and casualties.”
ANI had reported on Monday that along with military-level talks, both sides are planning to engage at diplomatic level soon.