Indian envoy to China briefs PLA General, reiterates stance on Ladakh issue

Indian Ambassador to China Vikram Misri on Friday met a senior Chinese Army General here and briefed him on India's stand on the situation at the borders in eastern Ladakh.

"Ambassador @VikramMisri today met Major General Ci Guowei, Director of the Office of International Military Cooperation of the Central Military Commission and briefed him on India's stance vis-a-vis the situation on the borders in eastern Ladakh UT, a tweet by the Indian Embassy here said.

The Central Military Commission, which is the overall high command of the Chinese military, is headed by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

This is the second major meeting Misri had with senior Chinese officials in the last three days. On August 12, Misri met Liu Jianchao, Deputy Director of the Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee Foreign Affairs Commission.

Misri's meetings with the senior Chinese officials comes against the backdrop of reports that the disengagement process between the troops of the two countries has not moved forward as expected along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh.

 

At the latest round of military talks, the Indian side insisted forcefully on complete disengagement of Chinese troops at the earliest, and immediate restoration of status quo ante in all areas of eastern Ladakh prior to May 5 when the standoff began following a clash between the two armies in Pangong Tso.

The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) has pulled back from Galwan Valley and certain other friction points but the withdrawal of its troops has not moved forward from the Finger areas in Pangong Tso, Gogra and Depsang as demanded by India, according to sources in New Delhi.

India has been insisting that China must withdraw its forces from areas between Finger Four and Eight. The mountain spurs in the area are referred to as Fingers.

The formal process of disengagement of troops began on July 6, a day after a nearly two-hour telephonic conversation between National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on ways to bring down tensions in the area.