Will continue talking to China says MEA

New Delhi, Nov 07: India has maintained that it would continue talking to China amidst the border row along the Line of Actual Control in Eastern Ladakh.

Anurag Srivastava, the spokesperson of the MEA, said, "we will continue to maintain the dialogue with the Chinese side to arrive at a mutually acceptable solution to the current situation along the LAC in eastern Ladakh."

"Both sides continue to maintain close communication at the military and diplomatic levels to achieve complete disengagement along the LAC. The two sides are guided by the leaders' consensus to jointly safeguard peace and tranquility in the border areas," he also said.

The Corps Commander level talks were held on the Indian side of Chushul-Moldo border post in Eastern Ladakh on Friday.

It would be important to thin down the troops as a first step towards disengagement, officials familiar with the developments said.

There have been seven rounds of military commander level talks since June. However there has been no disengagement.

During the earlier round of talks, China made certain unacceptable demands with regard to de-escalation. China suggested it would patrol till Finger 5 of Pangong Tso, whole India would patrol till Finger 3. This arrangement is unacceptable to India because Finger 4 will become part of occupied Aksai Chin.

Sources said that if this proposal by the Chinese is accepted then Finger 4 becomes out of bounds. This has been outrightly rejected, the official said.

The Chinese perception of the LAC by a 1959 line runs through Finger 4 of the Pangong Tso lake. On the other hand, the Indian perception is that the line runs through Finger 8 of the lake. The People's Liberation Army has built a road right up to Finger 4 from Finger 8.

India has also rejected Beijing's proposal that the Army vacate Rezang La-Rechin La ridge line on the south bank of Pangong Tso. China had said that this could be the first part of the disengagement process.