Ahead of diplomatic talks, India says it expects China to work on disengagement sincerely

New Delhi: Ahead of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) meet on Friday, India has said it expects "Chinese side will sincerely work with us" for complete disengagement, de-escalation and "full restoration of peace and tranquillity in the border areas at the earliest".

This will be the third round of virtual WMCC in last one month--the first on June 24 and the second on July 10. The remarks come amid the disengagement by the Chinese side which has reportedly slowed. While in the first phase, disengagement happened at Galwan valley, Hot springs and Gogra, Chinese continue to maintain positions at Finger 5 of Pangong Lake. The government sources said that the Chinese movement appears to have halted.

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Anurag Shrivastava said, "respecting and strictly abiding by the LAC is the basis of peace and tranquillity in the border areas." Shrivastava explained, "The conduct of Chinese forces this year, including the deployment of a large body of troops and changes in behaviour, accompanied by unjustified and untenable claims, has been in complete disregard of all the mutual agreements."  

He also reiterated that India is "fully committed to observing and respecting the LAC" and "will not accept any unilateral attempts to change the status quo along the LAC."

Ties between the two nations have deteriorated after June 15 violent clashes between Indian and Chinese forces that led to the death of 20 Indian soldiers. China also suffered casualties, but never came out with the details. India called the Chinese action, "premeditated and planned action".

Since the incident, three rounds of military talks and one Special Representative of India and China on the boundary question led by National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi took place to defuse the tensions.