As India and China prepare for yet another round of Corps Commander talks to resolve a 20-month standoff in eastern Ladakh, the situation on the ground is uncertain and “anything can happen”.
Top government sources told CNN-News18 that 60,000 fully armed Indian troops were spending a second winter in the freezing heights of eastern Ladakh. So are an equal number of PLA soldiers. A top source said things had been stable for a while but “China cannot be trusted with anything”.
The source also said there was not much to be optimistic about the upcoming talks, where corps commanders of India and China will meet to talk about stalled disengagement process in Hot Springs, Depsang and Demchok.
Last year’s 13th Corps Commander talks in October had ended in a stalemate. The Indian Army has said the “constructive suggestions” it made were not agreeable to the Chinese side, which also could not provide any “forward-looking” proposals. The Chinese had released a press statement calling India’s demands “unreasonable”.
No third party mediation: Top sources
As China and India continue with infrastructure development at the Line of Actual Control at breakneck speed, sources also cleared the air about third-party mediation.
Top government sources told CNN-News18 that there was no question of a third country playing mediator between India and China. The top source said a friendly third country had requested to sit on the talks table but was politely refused.
The Indian and Chinese defence ministers and external affairs ministers met early in September 2020 at Moscow on the sidelines of the SCO summit. This is when tensions were peaking after India, in a move that stumped China, had occupied the strategic Kailash Ranges in South Bank on August 29 and 30, 2020.
After India’s actions, the situation was “close to war” as the Chinese had moved forward to dislodge Indian troops. For the first time in 45 years, there was firing on the LAC.
In February 2021, as Chinese and Indian tanks disengaged at Pangong Tso, external affairs minister S Jaishankar tweeted to say he had spoken to his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi about “implementation of our Moscow Agreement”. It was the first public acknowledgment of the role Russia has played in de-escalating tensions between India and China. Russia is on good terms with both countries.
Is Russia perhaps looking at playing mediator once again as India-China relations turn frostier? India, for the moment, is completely ruling it out.
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