(TibetanReview.net, May10’22) – China’s attitude towards border talks show that it has no real interest to resolve the issue, the indianexpress.com and other online Indian media May 9 cited India’s newly appointed Army Chief Gen Manoj Pande as saying May 9.
“What we see is that China’s intent has been to keep the boundary issue alive,” Pande has said in his first formal media interaction after taking over as the new Army Chief on May 1.
(Photo courtesy: The Hindu)
Still, he has said “many friction areas have been resolved after talking to each other” and expressed hope that resolution for the balance friction points will be found through dialogue.
Regarding the remaining areas, where disengagement has not yet happened—including Hot Springs, Depsang Plains and Demchok—Pande has said, “they can only be resolved through dialogue” adding, “it is good that we are talking to and engaging with each other.”
“What we need is a whole of nation approach” to address the issue in its entirety. “In the military domain, this is to prevent and counter any attempt to alter the status quo at the LAC (Line of Actual Control),” he has said, speaking in the context of the larger question of the unsettled 3488-km long boundary between India and Chinese occupied Tibet.
He has said the Indian Army’s “aim and intention, as far as the situation is concerned, is to restore the status quo ante prior to April 2020.” He has said the “aim is also to re-establish trust and tranquility on both sides.”