Indian, Chinese defence ministers meet, no breakthrough on border face-off

Rajnath Singh says India determined to protect its sovereignty; his Chinese counterpart accuses New Delhi of 'provocations'

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh met his Chinese counterpart, Defence Minister and State Councillor General Wei Fenghe on Friday and discussed the on-going border confrontation in Ladakh, but without any breakthrough in resolving the four-month-long confrontation.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) says the meeting was requested by the Chinese delegation on the side-lines of a meeting of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation defence ministers in Moscow.

In what the MoD characterises as “frank and in-depth discussions”, both sides stuck to repeating their stated claims and positions on the border face-off.

“The Defence Minister categorically conveyed India’s position on the developments along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) including in the Galwan valley… He emphasised that the actions of the Chinese troops, including amassing of large number of troops, their aggressive behaviour and attempts to unilaterally alter the status quo were in violation of the bilateral agreements and not in keeping with the understandings reached between the Special Representatives of two sides,” stated the MoD on Saturday.

Rajnath Singh “stated clearly that while the Indian troops had always taken a very responsible approach towards border management, but at the same time there should also be no doubt about our determination to protect India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” said the MoD.

According to a statement on the Chinese Defence Ministry website Wei told Rajnath: “India should strengthen management and control of its frontline troops and not make provocations or deliberately hype and spread negative information.”

The statement said: “Wei also reaffirmed to [Rajnath] Singh China's commitment and ability to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity in the meeting.”

According to a Xinhua report, Wei told Rajnath: “The cause and fact of the current tension on the border between China and India are very clear, and the responsibility lies entirely with India.”

According to India’s MoD Wei said: “Both sides should scrupulously implement the consensus reached between Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi and President Xi Jinping and continue to solve the issues through dialogue and consultation, strictly follow the various bilateral agreements, strengthen the regulation of frontline troops and not undertake any provocative actions that might escalate the situation.”

Rajnath agreed that “Both sides should take guidance from the consensus of the leaders that maintenance of peace and tranquillity in the India-China border areas was essential for the further development of our bilateral relations and that two sides should not allow differences to become disputes,” said the MoD.

Rajnath said the two sides should work together “for complete disengagement at the earliest from all friction areas, including Pangong Lake, as well as de-escalation in border areas in accordance with the bilateral agreements and protocols on maintenance of peace and tranquillity in border areas.”

The Indian defence minister was referring to a web of Sino-Indian agreements designed to keep peace on the border. These include the 1993 Agreement on the Maintenance of Peace and Tranquillity along the LAC; the 1996 Agreement on Confidence Building Measures in the Military Field; the 2005 Modalities for the Implementation of Confidence Building Measures in the Military Field; the 2012 Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India–China Border Affairs, and the 2013 Border Defence Cooperation Agreement.

According to Xinhua, Wei conveyed to Rajnath that he “hoped that the Indian side will strictly abide by the series of agreements reached between the two sides, effectively strengthen the control of the front-line forces, refrain from provoking the current line of actual control, refrain from any actions that may cause the situation to heat up, and refrain from deliberately hyping and disseminating negative information.”

According to the MoD, Rajnath responded to Wei that both sides should “strictly respect and observe the LAC and should not make attempts to unilaterally change status quo. He further said that the current situation should be handled responsibly and that neither side should take any further action that could either complicate the situation or escalate matters in the border areas.” 

More than 35,000 soldiers from the Indian and Chinese militaries are ranged against each other in Eastern Ladakh, across the Depsang, Galwan, Hot Spring and Pangong Lake sectors. India has acknowledged the deaths of 20 soldiers, while China is also believed to have suffered casualties, but has not acknowledged any deaths.

Dialogue has taken place at the levels of Special Representatives, foreign ministers, diplomats and senior military commanders, but without a breakthrough so far.