China has asked the Indian army to destroy certain fortified positions in the disputed territory in eastern Ladakh in return for the PLA removing its temporary camp in Depsang valley, now at the centre of a military face-off.
Indian defence sources said a flag meeting on Tuesday, the second since April 15, failed after the Chinese side made its demand. They said the Indian side was not willing to make a commitment, and that led to an impasse.
The sources said Indian fortifications that had come up recently in eastern Ladakh were re in an area different from the one where the current face off was taking place. No official word was forthcoming on the flag meeting.
India raised the issue with China last week and summoned Ambassador Wei Wei to South Block. The MEA joint secretary, who heads the joint working mechanism to deal with boundary issues from the Indian side, spoke to his Chinese counterpart and emphasised the need to resolve the issue.
However, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said on Monday, “China’s frontier troops have been abiding by the LAC agreed by the two countries… (and) patrolling on China’s side of LAC.”
The sources quoted by Times of India as saying New Delhi might be working the diplomatic hotlines with Beijing, but parallels were already being drawn between the ongoing 10-day military standoff in Ladakh and the Sumdorong Chu incident of 1986-87, which required “a major show of force and resolve” to settle matters amicably.
With “no breakthrough” being achieved in the second flag meeting between the Indian and Chinese armies held on Tuesday, the Indian defence establishment and military operations directorate here went into a hurdle to discuss “various options”, including further troop reinforcements to the region, until late in the evening.
The army might well deploy additional troops in the region if there was no de-escalation over the next few days.
“The flag meeting, held at Spanggur gap between Daulat Beg Oldie and Chushul, lasted for around five hours. Our side was led by a brigadier, Chinese had a senior colonel. We told them this intrusion was simply unacceptable. But they accused us of aggressive patrolling. There was no concrete outcome, much like the first flag meeting on April 18,” said a source.