SOURCE: TIMES NOW
Even as fresh confrontations erupted between India and China in Eastern Ladakh, Beijing on Tuesday said that it would want disengagement as soon as possible in the wake of harsh winters approaching Ladakh.
Ahead of the meeting of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar with his Chinese counterpart, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian, during a press briefing, expressed hope that troops get back to their camping area and that there wouldn’t be any more confrontations in the border areas.
“You know that the place has a very bad natural condition and it is above a height of 4,000 metres. In winter, this is not good for humans to live. So we hope, through diplomatic and military channels and through consultations on the ground we can achieve disengagement as soon as possible and reach consensus,” he said.
Zhao’s remark came hours after India and China accused each other of firing in the air near the Pangong lake at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh on Monday. “The use of firearms along the LAC marks a serious escalation in border tensions as the previous instance of shots being fired at the de-facto border was in 1975,” news agency PTI reported.
Government sources said that around 50 People’s Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers approached aggressively towards Indian post near Mukhpari peak at about 6 pm on September 7.
The Chinese foreign ministry’s is a welcome remark after a four-month-long standoff at the LAC. China acknowledged the harsh winters of the Ladakh region where the temperatures fall to minus 30 degrees Celsius, posing serious health hazards to the thousands of troops mobilised by the two armies.
India has already urged China for “complete disengagement and de-escalation” on the LAC, saying the future of the bilateral relationship is dependent on the situation along the border.
Meanwhile, People’s Liberation Army earlier today confirmed that the five missing youths from Arunachal Pradesh were found on their side. The Chinese authorities are working on the modalities to hand them over to India.
