China yet to indicate plan on withdrawing from Pangong Tso, Depsang areas

New Delhi, Oct 01: With China not indicating its plan to withdraw from the contentious Pangong Tso and Depsang areas, there was no breaking through during the meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC).

Sources, however described to OneIndia that the talks were useful. Both sides also agreed to hold the 7th round of military commander level talks. This would help in working towards early disengagement of troops along of the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

The military commander level talks are likely to take place next week and the modalities are being worked out, the source cited above also said.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Wang Wenbin said on Thursday that currently, China and India are holding the 19th meeting of the WMCC on border affairs. The main topics (being) discussed are how to implement the five-point consensus reached in Moscow (on September 10) by the two foreign ministers to resolve outstanding issues on the ground and to ease the situation along the border.

The Indian delegation was led by Naveen Srivastava, who heads the East Asia division at the Ministry of External Affairs. The Chinese side was led by Hong Liang, Director-General of the Department of Boundary and Oceanic Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

India on Tuesday rejected China's position that it abides by its 1959 stand on the perception of the Line of Actual Control(LAC), and asked the neighbouring country to refrain from advancing an "untenable unilateral" interpretation of the de-facto border.

The stand by China spelt out by its foreign ministry insisting that it takes the 1959 line on perception of the LAC amid a nearly five-month-long border standoff in eastern Ladakh triggered a strong reaction from India.

"India has never accepted the so-called unilaterally defined 1959 Line of Actual Control (LAC). This position has been consistent and well known, including to the Chinese side," MEA Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said in response to a question by the media on the issue.

The spokesperson's comments came after a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson told Hindustan Times that China abides by the LAC as proposed by then Premier Zhou Enlai to Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in a letter dated November 7, 1959.