(TibetanReview.net, Mar28’24) —The 29th meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs has been held in Beijing on Mar 27 and the two sides had an in-depth exchange of views on how to achieve “complete disengagement” and resolve the remaining issues along their disputed border, India’s Ministry of External Affairs has said in a Mar 28 statement. The meeting took place on the day India’s External affairs minister S Jaishankar took a jibe at China, saying Beijing had failed to uphold longstanding written agreements with New Delhi. Also on Mar 27, India’s Army Chief, General Manoj Pande, has said the Indian Army’s preparedness levels were of a “very high order” and the force was keeping a “very close watch” on developments across the border.
The dispute between the two sides along Chinese-occupied Tibet’s border has continued to fester especially after it flared up in a midnight violence 2020, even as the two sides have continued their military and diplomatic-level talks.
“The two sides had an in-depth exchange of views on how to achieve complete disengagement and resolve the remaining issues along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Western Sector of India-China border areas,” India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has said.
Joint Secretary (East Asia) from the MEA led the Indian delegation. The Chinese delegation was led by Director General of the Boundary and Oceanic Department of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“In the interim, both sides agreed to maintain regular contact through diplomatic and military channels and on the need to uphold peace and tranquillity on the ground in the border areas in accordance with existing bilateral agreements and protocols,” the MEA statement has said.
The 28th meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs was held on Nov 30 last year.
On the day the Working Mechanism meeting was being held in Beijing, Jaishankar has emphasized on the paramount importance of securing India’s borders, while responding to a question on the current state of India’s relations with China during an interaction with the Indian diaspora in Malaysia.
“India, China relationship is difficult. For reasons which are still not clear to us, the boundary agreements were broken by China in 2020. We actually had violence and bloodshed,” the timesofindia.com Mar 27 quoted Jaishankar as saying.
“My first duty to Indians is to secure border. I can never compromise on that. Normalcy in terms of troop deployment at the border will be the basis for the relationship going forward with China,” he has added.
“We’re still negotiating with the Chinese. I talk to my counterpart. We meet from time to time. Our military commanders negotiate with each other. But we are very clear that we had an agreement. There is a Line of Actual Control. We have a tradition of not bringing troops to that line. Both of us have bases some distance away, which is our traditional deployment place. And we want that normalcy,” he has emphasized.
Jaishankar was on a two-day official visit to Malaysia, during which he met with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. The two leaders exchanged views and discussed cooperation in the areas of trade, science and technology, education, agriculture, tourism, defence and also on regional issues including Myanmar, the report said.
Also, at a panel discussion at Times Now Summit in New Delhi, General Pande has said he believed that it was “only through talks” that one can find a resolution of the balance issues that are currently at hand.
However, he has also made it clear: “We are prepared in every manner. Our levels of operational readiness, and operational preparedness is of a very high order. In terms of our deployments along the entire length of 3,488 km (LAC) of our borders, I would say is both robust as well as balanced. We have also ensured that we have adequate reserves in terms of dealing with contingencies… We have our response mechanism firmly in place.”
General Pande has said the Army was also focusing on infrastructure development, adding “I believe, we are moving in the right direction”.