The recent reports of incursions and firing along the India-China border has not deterred spirited tourists who have begun thronging the Buddhist monastry town of Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh, over which China stakes claim.
The two sides have already held at least 12 rounds of talks between local commanders and three rounds of talks between major general-rank officials but no positive outcome came out from the discussions, they said.
Two days ago, the Chinese foreign ministry following a meeting between NSA Ajit Doval and top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi in Johannesburg claimed that Xi and Modi had reached an 'important consensus' on stabilising bilateral ties at the interaction on the margins of the G20 Summit last November.
The Chinese inference is that if the Chinese visa is embossed on an Indian passport, held by Indian citizens from Arunachal Pradesh, it may be tantamount to recognising Indian sovereignty over Arunachal Pradesh, states Rup Narayan Das.
The sources said both sides held extensive deliberations on modalities for disengagement of troops from all the friction points in eastern Ladakh at the talks.
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.
Multiple rounds of talks have failed to yield any significant result in defusing border tensions. The last round of Corps Commander-level talks between both countries were held on November 6, 2020 in Chushul in Eastern Ladakh.
The joint statement said Jaishankar and Wang agreed that both sides should take guidance from the series of consensus reached between leaders of the two countries on developing India-China relations, including not allowing differences to become disputes.
"All temporary structures and other allied infrastructure created in the area by both sides have been dismantled and mutually verified. The landform in the area has been restored by both sides to the pre-standoff period," the Army said in a statement.
After a gap of over three months, India and China on Wednesday are holding another round of high-level military talks to resolve the 20-month-long military standoff in the remaining friction points in eastern Ladakh, sources in the security establishment said.
The DG of the ITBP said his troops have been provided with special winter clothing and nutritious food as they brave the severe chill in eastern Ladakh where the armies of India and China are locked in a tense standoff for over six months. He said 'strains in bilateral relations are already evident but we are confident these will be sorted out peacefully very shortly'.
There was no official word on the outcome of the talks.
The stringent and rare action against Commandant Rajesh Kumar Tomar was confirmed by the ITBP director general after a general force court trial was held against him under the ITBP Force Act of 1992.
As per the sources, the discussions between the two sides include pulling back tanks and armoured vehicles from their present positions, and some development in this regard is likely to take place in the next few days.
The talks are being held with an aim of resolving the ongoing standoff in eastern Ladakh and reaching an agreement on the last remaining friction point in the Hot Springs area which had emerged post April-May 2020 aggression shown by Chinese troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh.
China said that after this incident both sides are in communication and coordination on the matter through diplomatic and military channels.
The sources said the situation in eastern Ladakh remained 'tense' and that around 30-40 soldiers of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) are holding up at a position close to an Indian post in the Rezang-La ridgeline in eastern Ladakh.
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."
Indian troops are defending every inch of the border with China and not even a single inch of land has been taken over by the neighbouring country in recent years, Ladakh Lt Governor Brig (retd) B D Mishra said on Thursday.
The Army said it was also highlighted that completion of disengagement in other areas would pave the way for the two sides to consider de-escalation of forces and ensure full restoration of peace and tranquillity and enable progress in bilateral relations.
India and China on Friday are holding another round of high-level military dialogue to resolve the 22-month-long standoff in some friction points in eastern Ladakh, two months after the last round of such talks failed to yield any significant outcome.
The decision to disengage the forces, locked in a bitter standoff for the last six weeks in eastern Ladakh, was taken at a nearly 11-hour-long meeting between senior Indian and Chinese commanders in Moldo on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) on Monday.
Nepal said it was confident that both its "friendly neighbours" India and China will resolve their border stand-off at the Line of Actual Control through peaceful means.
The right path for the two sides is to respect and support each other as this serves our long-term interests, Chinese foreign minister said.
India and China have already disengaged from the banks of Pangong lake after extensive talks and the Gogra Heights and Hot Springs areas are left to be resolved as these friction points were created post-Chinese aggression last year.
'As China rises and India grows to reclaim their earlier positions on the world stage as two of the largest economies and most important countries, there will indeed be some contention between these two powers.' 'There will also be plenty of space and room for cooperation amongst the two of us.' 'As our economic size increases to match the fact that we are the two most populous nations on earth, it will be all the more important for us to keep the interests of our peoples as well as those of the rest of the world in mind.' 'We shall have to grow together rather than as separate and disparate entities,' points out Ambassador Gautam Bambawale -- who served as India's ambassador to China -- in the 7th annual lecture of the Indian Association of Foreign Affairs Correspondents on March 1, 2019.
Jaishankar also said that there is a need to take the disengagement process forward.
The number of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) posts along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) has been increased from 180 to 195 as part of plans to better operational capability and border management, a top official said on Friday.
The sources said the focus of the talks was to take forward the disengagement process in friction points like Hot Springs, Gogra and Depsang in eastern Ladakh.
With regard to where relations between New Delhi and Beijing stand, the Union minister said that he does not have a definite answer to offer at "this moment".
RInstead of disengagement, the Indian and Chinese armies have deployed an estimated 35,000 to 40,000 soldiers each along the LAC. The PLA has deployed S-400 air defence missiles to neutralise the IAF's advantage in air power
The marathon fourth round of Lt Gen-level talks also focussed on steps for pulling back large number of troops and weapons from rear bases along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh.
"The meeting thus did not result in resolution of the remaining areas," the Army said in a statement.
Prime Minister Modi and President Xi held the conversation on Wednesday on the sidelines of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) summit in Johannesburg.
It is learnt that the India's top military brass is constantly monitoring the evolving situation even as the United States said the aggressive behaviour by Chinese troops was a reminder of the threat posed by China.
The United States' Department of Defence said that it continues to closely watch developments along the Line of Actual Control at the India-China border and noted that China 'continues to amass forces and build military infrastructure along the so-called LAC'.
The structure and the level at which the hotline would be set up is likely to come up for discussion in future meetings between the two countries at the military level, they said.
The Wednesday talks took place amid a war of words between the two sides on perception of the LAC, the de-facto Sino-India border spanning a length of nearly 3,500 km.
The Chinese and the Indian troops were engaged in a standoff for 73 days in Doklam.
