Beijing says it is in talks with India to resolve border conflict

Beijing: China on Monday reiterated that it was in talks with India to resolve border standoff in Galwan valley of Ladakh through diplomatic and military channels.

“China and India are in communication with each other to resolve the situation on the ground through diplomatic and military channels. I have no information to release on that,” Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Spokesperson, Zhao Lijian said during his regular briefing held here.

In the worst flare-up on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in more than five decades, 20 Indian Army personnel, including the commanding officer of 16 Bihar, were killed on June 15 night in violent face-off with Chinese troops in the Galwan valley of Ladakh where disengagement of troops on either side was underway.

Zhao also declined to comment on Indian Minister and former Indian Army Chief Gen (Retd) V K Singh’s claim that more than 40 Chinese soldiers were killed in the Galwan Valley clash saying, he has no information to release on the issue.

Meanwhile, according to an Indian media report, India and China are holding another round of Lt General-level talks on Monday to discuss ways to de-escalate tension between the two sides in eastern Ladakh.

The high-level talks came a week after 20 Indian Army personnel were killed in the violent clash between the two sides in the Galwan Valley.

The first round of Lt Gen-level talks were held on June 6 during which both sides decided to “disengage” in all the sensitive areas.

The disputed border covers nearly 2,200 miles of frontier that the two countries call the Line of Actual Control.

Though skirmishes are not new along the frontier, the standoff at Galwan Valley, where India is building a strategic road connecting the region to an airstrip close to China, has escalated in recent weeks.

India and China fought a border war in 1962 that also spilled into Ladakh. The two countries have been trying to settle their border dispute since the early 1990s without success.