NEW DELHI: After a standstill in the 14th round of talks in January, India has reportedly sent out a message to China to resume talks over LAC flash points at the earliest. In the previous round of talks, India reportedly focused on Hot Springs (Patrolling Point 15) as well as an early disengagement of troops in the remaining friction points in eastern Ladakh. There has been a military standoff on Hot Springs area since 2020. Hot Springs (Kyam) is a campsite located at the border checkpost in the Chang Chenno River Valley in Ladakh (near the disputed border with China).
Disengagement happened at Pangong Tso, Galwan and Gogra after previous rounds of talks. However, more than 50,000 troops face each other in some areas since the PLA carried out mass intrusions in May 2020. Meanwhile, China on Saturday increased its annual defence budget by 7.1% per cent to $230 billion from last year’s $209 billion, three times India’s military spending. The hike comes amid PLA’s aggression in the Indo-Pacific region. Premier Li Keqiang, while presenting the budget proposals in the Chinese parliament, has called for increasing the PLA’s comprehensive combat readiness.
This has alerted India, keeping in view that the 14th round of India-China Corps Commander Level talks, held on January 12, didn’t yield any positive results, though both sides had agreed to meet again. India had tried to persuade China to disengage from Hot Springs.
Subsequently, the External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar, during the Quad Foreign Ministers Meet in Melbourne had said that China had violated written agreements by amassing troops. “The situation at the LAC has arisen due to the disregard by China of agreements with us not to amass forces at the border,” Jaishankar said.
Beijing raises military spending by 7.1%
China on Saturday increased its annual defence budget by 7.1% per cent to $230 billion from last year’s $209 billion, three times India’s military spending. The hike comes amid PLA’s aggression in the Indo-Pacific region