LAC standoff: No reduction in deployment until status quo continues says Singh

New Delhi, Dec 30: No meaningful solution has come out of the diplomatic talks with China to resolve the standoff in eastern Ladakh, Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh said.

Speaking to news agency ANI, in an exclusive interview, Singh said that there cannot be a reduction in troops if the status quo continues.

Singh while referring to the working mechanism for consultation and coordination (WMCC) meeting on India-China border affairs (WMCC) held virtually earlier this month said that the next round of military commander level talks could take place anytime.

It is true that in order to reduce the standoff between India and China, talks were taking place on a military and diplomatic level. But no success has been achieved so far. There will be a next round of talks on a military level which can take place anytime. But no meaningful outcome has come and there is status quo.

If there is status quo, how can deployment be reduced. There will be no reduction in our deployment and I feel their deployment too will not come down. Status quo is not a positive development and we expect that there will be a positive outcome during talks He also said that hotline messages continue to be exchanged.