9/4/2020 LAC stand-off: Talks only option to restore peace, Delhi tells Beijing - Times of India

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LAC stand-off: Talks only option to restore peace, Delhi

tells Beijing
TNN | Sep 3, 2020, 11.16 PM IST
LAC stand-off: Talks only option to restore peace, Delhi tells Beijing
NEW DELHI: While holding China responsible for the deteriorating border
situation, the MEA said Thursday the way forward was to hold
negotiations "sincerely" and that India remained committed to resolving
the issue peacefully through dialogue.

The government also confirmed that foreign minister S Jaishankar will be

visiting Moscow next week for the SCO meeting, where his Chinese
counterpart Wang Yi will also be present, and that India was looking
forward to holding a Quad ministerial meeting later this year.

"Now the way ahead is negotiations, both through the diplomatic and
military channels. The Indian side is firmly committed to resolving all outstanding issues through peaceful dialogue," said
spokesperson Anurag Srivastava.

The government strongly urged China to "sincerely" engage the Indian side with the objective of expeditiously restoring peace
and tranquility in the border areas through complete disengagement and de-escalation in accordance with the bilateral
agreements and protocols.

While China had blamed India for the latest face-off at Pangong, the government said it was clear that the situation witnessed
over the past four months was a direct result of the actions taken by the Chinese side that sought to effect unilateral change of

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9/4/2020 LAC stand-off: Talks only option to restore peace, Delhi tells Beijing - Times of India

status quo.

"These actions resulted in violation of the bilateral agreements and protocol which ensured peace and tranquility in the border
areas for close to three decades," said the official.

While China has repeatedly concurred with India on the need for early and complete disengagement, this hasn't translated into
action on the ground. Indian officials suspect China has used talks, both military and diplomatic, to buy time to further fortify the
presence of its troops on the Indian side of LAC.

Confirming that the military commanders were still holding discussions to resolve the situation, India reiterated the consensus
reached between the two foreign ministers and SRs that the situation at the border be handled in a responsible manner and
neither side take any provocative action or escalate matters.

While Jaishankar will come face to face physically for the first time with Wang on September 10 in Moscow, it remains to be
seen if they have a bilateral meeting. Diplomatic sources didn't rule out the possibility of a brief engagement to address the
border situation. ToI had reported on August 2 that the foreign ministers could meet on September 10 in Moscow.

The two had spoken after the Galwan clash in June on phone and the conversation had helped establish the "broad principles"
for disengagement. The two may have to start afresh though, given the damage to the process caused, according to India, by
efforts of Chinese troops to unilaterally change the status quo on the south bank of the Pangong lake on the night of August 29
and early morning on August 30.

India's decision to host a meeting of ministers from Quad nations- US, Australia, Japan and India - is unlikely to go down well
with Beijing though. This will be only the second meeting of Quad at the level of ministers. Both China and Russia see Quad as
aimed at containing China. China's Global Times quoted experts to say earlier this week that a US-led NATO-like alliance won't
be "reliable" for India.

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9/4/2020 LAC stand-off: Talks only option to restore peace, Delhi tells Beijing - Times of India

In a message to the US, the Chinese embassy here also said Thursday that China and India had the ability to resolve their
border disputes bilaterally and that they "don’t (sic) accept countries outside the region pointing fingers, let alone meddling or
making instigation, which will only endanger the regional peace and stability".

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