'The Indian army is a professional army. They can handle such a situation'
Lou also spoke about China's tensions with neighbouring countries without directly mentioning the eastern Ladakh border standoff with India since May 2020 which resulted in the Galwan Valley clash in June of that year.
India and China have implemented a pact on patrolling in Depsang and Demchok along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, as per agreed modalities and timelines. The agreement was reached on October 21 and includes provisions for disengagement and patrolling in the last two friction points in the region. The pact has been effected and implemented as agreed, with both sides resuming patrolling activities and grazing, where applicable, as per longstanding practice before the friction began. The terms of the disengagement agreements reached prior to the latest pact continue to hold in relevant areas in eastern Ladakh. The agreement applies mutually to both sides and is without prejudice to India's positions on the LAC or boundary lines. India and China are each carrying out one round of patrolling in Depsang and Demchok, but they have maintained their deployment of troops along the LAC. The focus now is on de-escalation of the overall situation. The agreement was endorsed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in a meeting in Kazan, Russia, signaling attempts to normalize ties.
Sources had earlier said that the areas and patrolling status were expected to be moved back to pre-April 2020 level.
The key meeting was held in Beijing on March 27, the MEA said in a statement.
India has been maintaining that its ties with China cannot be normal unless there is peace in the border areas.
The ministry of external affairs on Wednesday said the talks were held in an "open and constructive manner" for an early and mutually acceptable resolution of the remaining issues.
Watch all the proceedings from Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
In his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the 16th BRICS Summit in the Russian city of Kazan, Xi said that China-India relations are essentially a question of how the two large developing countries and neighbours, each with a 1.4-billion-strong population, treat each other, it added.
China on Wednesday accused India of "trampling" on the Panchsheel principles and asked New Delhi to "correct its mistakes" as soon as possible by pulling back troops.
The Indian Army has commenced a verification patrolling at Depsang, the second friction point in eastern Ladakh, the government said on Saturday.
'Our defence services are in a position to checkmate any Chinese adventurism.'
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday said that he wanted to join the Army but could not due to difficulties in his family.
Throughout its standoff with India along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), Chinese officials sought to downplay the severity of the crisis, emphasising Beijing's intent to preserve border stability and prevent the standoff from harming other areas of its bilateral relationship with India, the Pentagon said in a report on Tuesday.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday asserted that the government will not allow India's pride to be hurt under any circumstances even as he said bilateral talks were on at military and diplomatic levels to resolve the row.
The exchange took place at five Border Personnel Meeting points along the LAC, the sources added.
The Indian Army has been matching up to the Chinese build up in both Pangong Tso lake and Galwan Valley, the two locations in Ladakh which have witnessed major reinforcement of troops in the last two weeks, sources said. There was very little chance of easing of tension anytime soon as both sides are aggressively holding onto their respective positions, they said.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has expressed readiness to join hands with India's National Security Advisor Ajit Doval to "properly handle" issues related to the situation on the ground in the border areas, amid the protracted border row in eastern Ladakh.
The United States has recognised that territory (Arunachal Pradesh) for a long time (as an integral part of India), White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.
Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang reiterated that the situation at the India-China border is generally stable and both sides should consolidate the present achievements and strictly abide by the relevant agreements while pushing for further cooling and easing of the conditions for sustainable peace and tranquillity at the frontier.
The sources have said that patrolling will begin at these points once the disengagement that began last week is completed and both sides will move their respective troops and dismantle temporary structures.
China's Ministry of Civil Affairs on Sunday released standardised names of 11 places for Arunachal Pradesh, which it calls "Zangnan, the southern part of Tibet".
A broad consensus has been achieved by India and China on restoring the 'ground situation' along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) pursuant to talks, including for patrolling and grazing cattle in the traditional areas, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Thursday.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrived in India Thursday evening in the highest-level visit between the two countries after the ties came under severe strain following the eastern Ladakh standoff nearly two years ago.
Jaishankar also spoke about how he expected a change in Russia's direction towards the rest of the world and it may likely want multiple options in Asia.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal ahead of his first state visit to the United States, Modi also talked about the Ukraine conflict, saying some people say that India is neutral but it is on the side of peace.
Union minister Kiren Rijiju on Friday said he interacted with soldiers of China's People's Liberation Army along the Sino-Indian border near Tawang during a visit to an Indian Army post on Diwali.
China has been taking "incremental and tactical actions" to press its claims at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with India and has unsuccessfully sought to prevent New Delhi from deepening its relationship with the US during and subsequent to the standoff, the Pentagon has said in a major report on China's military modernisation.
According to the 'Military and Security Developments involving the People's Republic of China' report 2023: "Since early May 2020, sustained tensions along the India-China border have dominated the Western Theater Command's attention."
Narrowing of differences on competing territorial claims along the un-demarcated LAC might take weeks, if not months, of hard-nosed negotiations. Without some give and take on both sides, the impasse will be hard to resolve, observes Virendra Kapoor.
'Galwan has turned everything.' 'The casualties on both sides alerted the Chinese to the fact that Indians are not going to take it lying down.'
The Indian Army began patrolling at Demchok on Friday, days after Indian and Chinese troops completed disengagement at the two friction points in eastern Ladakh, Army sources said.
Jaishankar said, "The immediate part which awaits us is what we call the de-escalation, which is the build-up of forces along the Line of Actual Control."
The virtual talks took place under the framework of Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs.
The Jaishankar-Wang talks came amid the dragging border row in eastern Ladakh that entered its fifth year in May.
The "caution level" among the troops has also been raised.
Jaishankar also said that there is a need to take the disengagement process forward.
External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid will go ahead with his visit to China on May 9 notwithstanding the ongoing standoff between Indian troops and Chinese forces which intruded deep inside Depsang Valley in Ladakh ten days back.
India is set to press for early disengagement of troops from the remaining friction points in eastern Ladakh at a fresh round of high-level military talks with China on August 14, people familiar with the matter said on Saturday.
Calling the 'events' along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) very disturbing, the external affairs minister said they have raised some very 'basic concerns'. When asked whether it will be a long-haul or a breakthrough is expected soon, Jaishankar said: "I would not go into prediction zone at all whether it is going to be easy or not, and what will be the timelines and so on."
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