New Delhi: The “situation along our borders with China is under control”, Army Chief General MM Naravane said Saturday morning, adding that a series of meetings between senior military commanders from both sides had resulted in “a lot of disengagement” and that “all perceived differences that we (India and China) have will be set to rest”.
“I would like to assure everyone that the entire situation along our borders with China is under control. We’re having a series of talks which started with Corps Commander level and has been followed up with meetings at local levels between commanders of equivalent ranks,” General Naravane was quoted by news agency ANI.
“As a result, a lot of disengagement has taken place and we are hopeful that through the continued dialogue we’re having, all perceived differences that we (India and China) have will be set to rest,” the general added.
India and China are currently engaged in military level talks to disengage in the Ladakh region where tensions have been building up. Armies of both countries have gotten into fist fights in the high altitude region.
Indian side maintains that both parties have mutually agreed to pull back troops, but accept that tension in the Pangong Tso region remains.
Chinese government mouthpiece has been upping its rhetoric while the PLA has been moving heavy weaponry to the border and conducting military drills.
A Chinese diplomat reacting to the standoff in Ladakh has said that the move is linked to the Indian government’s unilateral decision to scrap Article 370 in August last year.
The move changed the laws that prohibited Indians from buying land in Kashmir, and made the constitution of Jammu and Kashmir defunct, triggering fears of demographic change in the Muslims majority region of Kashmir.
When India scrapped Jammu and Kashmir’s special status on August 5 last year, the Chinese foreign ministry had issued two statements criticising the development, including one that focused on the splitting of the state into union territories.
This statement, while urging India to be “cautious” on the border issue and to avoid “actions that further complicate the border issue”, said: “China has always opposed India’s inclusion of Chinese territory in India’s administrative jurisdiction in the western part of the Sino-Indian border.” This was a reference to the area in Ladakh that New Delhi claims but is controlled by Beijing.
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