In the midst of continued stand-off between the Indian and Chinese Armies at Demchok and Chumar in ladakh, Chinese Ambassador le Yucheng met senior officials in the External Affairs Ministry on Wednesday. The development came after five flag meetings between the Armies of the two countries failed to resolved the 15-day-long deadlock.
While Indian officials denied this meeting was related to border issues, le said both parties expect to find an amicable solution to the current tension on the border. “We have to constructively find a solution to keep both the areas peaceful and tranquil. It is the task of us, diplomats, to find a way to help stabilise the situation,” said le.
Interestingly, the Chinese troops were reported to have made partial withdrawal at Tibley on Tuesday evening. Known in Army parlance as 30R, Tibley has been the focus point of stand-off for over ten days now. While this partial withdrawal can be seen as a sign of thaw to help reduce tension at the line of Actual Control (lAC), the security forces have adopted a wait and watch policy, since a similar partial withdrawal from the Chinese side had happened a week back.
“As for the boundary issue, leaders from both sides also reached a high level of consensus, and determined to continue with friendly consultation to resolve it. Pending final settlement, both sides should jointly safeguard peace and tranquility of the border area so that the boundary issue will in no way shadow the normal development of bilateral ties,” the Chinese spokesperson Hu Chunying said in Beijing.