The situation at the Line of Actual Control is moving towards being “normalised”, claimed the Chinese Ambassador to India Sun Weidong, as he called for India and China to work more closely together to resolve differences, in a speech marking the 73rd anniversary of the People’s Republic of China. The Chinese Ambassador’s assertion comes weeks after the two sides agreed to disengage at Patrolling Point (PP) 15 at the LAC, one of several “friction points” where PLA soldiers transgressed and have amassed troops since April 2020.
“The current border situation is overall stable,” Mr. Sun said in the virtual address, the text of which was released by the Chinese embassy on Wednesday. “The phase of emergency response since the Galwan Valley incident has basically come to an end, and the border situation is now switching to normalised management and control,” he added in the speech, that was at some variance to comments last week where Army chief General Manoj Pande said there were still more friction points, a reference to Demchok and Depsang, at the LAC where disengagement was necessary, before the two sides could “look at the next step of de-escalation”, requiring the pullback of troops and tanks.
Mr. Sun went on to say that China was prepared to seek a solution to the LAC situation through further dialogue and consultation, but that he hoped India would address China’s “core interests” that included the Taiwan question and Xizang (Tibet) related issues. In comments to journalists that The Hindu had reported in August, the Chinese Ambassador had called for India to articulate its commitment to the “One China” policy, which New Delhi has not done since 2010, understood to be a signal to China over its claims on Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh.
