JK News Today
Jammu, February 24:
The Indian army chief M M Naravane today admitted that trust deficit persists between Indian and Chinese armies despite the start of the process of disengagement by both sies in the eastern Ladakh.
The two armies were in a stiff standoff position since April/ May last year , and it was only after the nine round of talks between the military commanders of the two countries that the disengagement process started on February 10 on. The northern and southern banks of the Pangong Tso ( lake), easing a lot of tensions, but the tenth round of talks on February 20 brought out the difficulties in bringing about the de-escalation along the LAC.
Gen. Naravane said that the ongoing disengagement process with the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh was a “win-win situation” for both sides, but there was “still a long way to go” before de-escalation of conflict in the theatre and eventual de-induction of rival soldiers can be achieved through talks.
“For any agreement to last, both sides should feel they have achieved something. The talks have had a good outcome. Disengagement is a very good end result,” the army chief said, responding to a spate of questions on the border standoff after he delivered a talk on the Role of Indian Army in Dealing with National Security Challenges.
The Vivekananda International Foundation had organised the talk.
Naravane’s comments came four days after Indian and Chinese generals held talks in eastern Ladakh and agreed to resolve outstanding issues at friction points on the LAC in a “steady and orderly” manner and were unanimous that last week’s Pangong Tso disengagement provided “a good basis” for resolving pending problems.
Naravane acknowledged that some issues, including Depsang, remained but strategies were in place to resolve those matters. “We have leverage for negotiating favourable outcomes in future talks, but I would not like to mention those strategies,” he said.
Outstanding problems with PLA at Depsang, Hot Springs and Gogra – friction points on the LAC — were discussed during the 10th round of talks between corps commander-ranked officers of the two sides on February 20.
Naravane said the army was progressing cautiously because of the trust deficit with PLA. “Until that trust deficit is removed, we will be wary about the developments there…But at the end of the say, we have achieved a lot,” he said.
