New Delhi: Indian and Chinese military negotiators have reached an agreement, foreign secretary Vikram Misri said today, October 21, on the eastern Ladakh border imbroglio.
The time and place of Misri’s announcement fuel speculation on a thaw between the two countries. Misri made this announcement at the agreement at the briefing of the 16th BRICs summit which Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to attend from October 22 to 23 in Kazan, Russia.
There has been anticipation that Modi and Chinese president Xi Jinping will meet there.
The MEA notification on Modi’s visit had said, “During his visit, the Prime Minister is also expected to hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts from BRICS member countries and invited leaders in Kazan, Russia.”
Speaking to journalists, Misri said:
“Many of you have questions about bilateral meetings on the sidelines and, in particular, a possible bilateral meeting between the prime minister and the president of China. Some of these questions are particularly timely and also appropriate, as I now have the opportunity to share with you. I can share that, over the last several weeks, Indian and Chinese diplomatic and military negotiators have been in close contact with each other in a variety of forums. As a result of these discussions, an agreement has been reached on patrolling arrangements along the Line of Actual Control in the India-China border areas, leading to disengagement and a resolution of the issues that had arisen in these areas in 2020, and we will be taking the next steps on this.”
Misri did not reveal any other details of this arrangement.
Ties between India and China have been frozen for the last four years since the stand-off began between two armies at the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh in 2020. The hand-to-hand combat led to the death of at least 20 Indian soldiers.
Amidst claims that China has been advancing into India, there have been multiple rounds of meetings between military and diplomatic representatives of the two countries on disengagement in the area. China has been reported to refuse to return to a status quo.
In July this year, external affairs minister S. Jaishankar met with Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi for the second time within a month and claimed that both sides agreed that “strong guidance” was required to complete the disengagement process at the border.
In September, National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval also met with Wang Yi and emphasised “urgency” and the need to “redouble” efforts to resolve remaining areas. The Wire had noted how India had toned down its language on China.
Misri evaded a direct answer on whether Modi was likely to meet Xi in a bilateral meeting.
“As far as the questions on a bilateral meeting are concerned, as you know, and as was said earlier as well, this is a multilateral event, thought of course there is always a provision for bilateral meetings on the sidelines, we are currently looking into the overall programmer of the prime minister….There are a number of requests for bilateral meetings and we will update you on the bilaterals as they evolves, as soon as feasible. The same goes for all the other questions that have been posed with regard to the bilaterals with different countries.”
