NEW DELHI: While the situation at the Line of Actual Control remains tense, instructions have been passed on Thursday to officers to maintain peace on the Indian side. While both the armies continue their talks with each other, the infrastructure buildup on the Indian side of the LAC has not been stopped.
Sources informed, “Instructions have been passed to remain calm and not get provoked by the actions of Chinese.” Also, the forces were asked to maintain peace and not to take any step from our side which aggravates the situation while the communication at relevant levels continues, added the source.
Post informal summits in Wuhan (China, 2018) and Mamallapuram (India, 2019) between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, both sides reiterated, as part of strategic guidance to the two militaries, to "strengthen communication to build trust and mutual understanding and to enhance predictability and effectiveness in management of border affairs.”
On the ground, another source told, “The deployments remain the same and there have been no increase or decrease in deployments from both the sides.”
Another important point the sources shared is of continuing the ongoing work of border infrastructure. There was no reason for us to stop our work said the second source and added, “We are aware of the sensitivities of these areas thus we already were doing the road building and other infrastructure improvement activities within Indian side of the LAC.”
In the first political reaction from both sides on the Sino-Indian border standoff at Ladakh, Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said the Army must give a matching response on the border to China and should not slow down the ongoing infrastructure improvement on the Indian side of LAC, the de facto border between the two countries.
As reported first by this newspaper, there have been local manoeuvres of the BMPs which had come closer to the LAC from both sides. These were moved back to their rear locations on Monday.
The talks are continuing but situation in Eastern Ladakh, however, remains tensed and the troops remain in standoff position.