‘Negotiations Only Way Ahead’: MEA on India-China Ladakh Stand-Off

India asked China to “sincerely engage” in restoring peace along the borders through complete disengagement.

Satellite images from Galwan Valley, the site of the latest India-China clash. Image of China and India flags, used for representational purposes.

(Photo: Aroop Mishra/The Quint)

India, on Thursday, 3 September, asked China to "sincerely engage" in restoring peace along the borders through complete disengagement, noting that negotiations is the only way forward.

Weeks after the Galwan clash, the two countries locked horns once again along the Line of Actual Control on Sunday, when India preemptively thwarted Chinese intentions to unilaterally change the status quo on the southern bank of Pangong Tso in eastern Ladakh.

In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said:

“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.”

“We, therefore, strongly urge the Chinese side to sincerely engage the Indian side with the objective of expeditiously restoring the peace and tranquility in the border areas through complete disengagement and de-escalation in accordance with the bilateral agreements and protocols,” it added.

The Indian Defence Ministry on Monday had said that People's Liberation Army (PLA) troops violated the previous consensus arrived at the military and diplomatic engagements during the ongoing standoff in eastern Ladakh and carried out provocative military movements to change the status quo on the night of 29 August and early morning of 30 August.

“Indian troops preempted this PLA activity on the southern bank of Pangong Tso Lake, undertook measures to strengthen our positions and thwart Chinese intentions to unilaterally change facts on the ground,” the government had said.

Srivastava reiterated that Chinese actions had caused the recent escalation.

"It is clear that the situation we witness over the past four months is a direct result of the actions taken by the Chinese side, that sought to effect unilateral change of 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," he said.

He said that the ground commanders are still holding discussions to resolve the situation.

"We reiterate the consensus reached between the two foreign ministers and secretaries that the situation in the border should be handled in a responsible manner and either side should not take any provocative action or escalate matters," the MEA spokesperson said.

The Xi Jinping regime had, on Monday, threatened that the China-India border tensions will "surely escalate this time", since India "crossed the LAC (Line of Actual Control) at the border and purposely launched provocations".

(With inputs from IANS)