India urges China to take steps against army clashes in Ladakh

NEW DELHI: India on Friday urged China to take steps against military clashes from remaining areas in eastern Ladakh.

Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi said a prolongation of the months-long standoff on their disputed border is not in either country’s interest so steps needed to control army clashes in the area.

Bagchi said New Delhi hopes that the Chinese side will work with India to make sure that disengagement in the remaining areas is completed at the earliest.

“This would allow both sides to consider de-escalation of forces in eastern Ladakh as that alone will lead to the restoration of peace and offer conditions for the progress of our bilateral relationship,” the spokesman added. On the other hand, there was no instant response from the Chinese side in this regard.

It is worth mentioning hers recently, thousands of Indian and Chinese front-line troops disengaged in February from the southern and northern banks of Pangong Lake in the Ladakh area following a series of talks between the two countries.

Senior Chinese military and Indian commanders held their last meeting on March 12. The foreign ministers of the two countries also had a teleconference in March.

In  May 2020, the tense standoff high in the Karakoram mountains started, when Indian and Chinese army soldiers ignored each other’s repeated verbal warnings, triggering a yelling match, stone-throwing and fistfights at the northern bank of Pangong Lake.

It escalated and spread north in Depsang and Galwan Valley by June, where India had built an all-weather military road along the disputed frontier. Tensions exploded into hand-to-hand combat with clubs, stones and fists that left 20 Indian soldiers dead. China accepted six months later that it suffered four casualties.

In 1962, the two sides fought a border war that spilled into Ladakh and ended in an uneasy truce. Since then, troops have guarded the vague border while sporadically brawling.