Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane on Wednesday spoke about India’s position on the standoff with China in Ladakh and said that the resolve of safeguarding the country’s interest was shown.
The Army chief also said that India’s engagements with China should continue as they have in the past and said that nobody wants an unsettled border.
“As two neighbours who would like to have peace and tranquility on their borders and who would like that all the other engagements which have been going on in the past should continue also in the future,” General Naravane.
Nobody wants an unsettled border, the army chief further said.
Talking about the efforts to normalise the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh, he said, “Whatever we did as a government, as a nation, has shown that the resolve that we have in maintaining our interest foremost.”
“I think that with this ‘Whole-of-Government Approach’ our relations with China would develop along the path that we wish to develop,” General Naravane said.
A border standoff between the Indian and Chinese militaries began in May last year, and a month later, resulted in a bloody clash in Galwan Valley in which 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese troops were killed.
After nearly nine months, the armies withdrew their artillery and camps, marking the disengagement.
In a joint statement on Sunday, India and China said that the disengagement of troops in Pangong Lake area in Eastern Ladakh is a significant step forward for resolution of other remaining issues along the LAC in the western sector.
The two sides also agreed to follow the important consensus of their state leaders, continue their communication and dialogue, stabilise and control the situation on the ground and push for a mutually acceptable resolution of the remaining issues in a steady and orderly manner so as to jointly maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas.
The statement came after the nearly 16-hour-long Corps Commander-level talks at the Moldo border point on the Chinese side of the LAC that began at around 10 AM on Saturday and ended at 2 AM on Sunday.
