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India and China failed to make any breakthrough in resolving outstanding issues on the remaining friction points in eastern Ladakh at the 16th round of military talks on Sunday, but agreed to maintain dialogue to arrive at a mutually acceptable resolution at the earliest.
A day after the nearly 12-and-half-hour talks, the two sides, in a joint statement on Monday, reaffirmed that the resolution of the pending issues would help in the restoration of peace and tranquility along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the region and enable progress in bilateral relations.
At the talks, India strongly pressed for early disengagement of troops from all the remaining friction points in the region and demanded the restoration of the status quo ante as of April 2020 — before the start of the military standoff, official sources said.
The joint statement said the two sides agreed to maintain security and stability on the ground in eastern Ladakh and agreed to stay in “close contact” and maintain dialogue through military and diplomatic channels to work out a mutually acceptable resolution to the remaining issues “at the earliest”.
Ahead of the talks, official sources said there were some expectations of progress on completing the disengagement process at Patrolling Point-15 in the Hot Springs area.
“Building on the progress made at the last meeting on 11th March 2022, the two sides continued discussions for the resolution of the relevant issues along the LAC in the Western Sector in a constructive and forward-looking manner,” the statement said.
“They had a frank and in-depth exchange of views in this regard, in keeping with the guidance provided by the state leaders to work for the resolution of the remaining issues at the earliest,” it said. The government refers to the eastern Ladakh region as the Western sector.
