Line of actual conflict

Onus in Ladakh is on military-level disengagement

As a reiteration of broad negotiating principles, the five-point joint statement issued by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and China’s State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Moscow on September 10 on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Agreement is unexceptionable. It is an open question, however, whether the statement will offer a practical or durable framework for re-establishing peace along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). The joint statement broadly suggests that dialogue remains on the table, based on the “consensus of the leaders on developing India-China relations including not allowing differences to become disputes”. It may be