Leh/Beijing: By an uncanny coincidence, a day after PM Modi and President Donald Trump’s telephonic conversation, during which they purportedly discussed the prickly Ladakh issue, both Indian and Chinese troops have retreated slightly from the point of face-off near the Line of Actual Control.
While Chinese troops have pulled back 2 km, the Indian Army has retreated by a km at Galwan Valley, media sources said. Observers say this could be part of the game of brinkmanship and hopscotch that the two armies play occasionally on the LAC. Incidentally, the retreat has come just before the Lieutenant General-rank talks on June 6.
The retreat by both sides, even though marginal, could give them room to manoeuvre and reconcile their differences.
K J VARMA REPORTS FROM BEIJING: China on Wednesday emphasised that there was no need for the intervention of a "third party" to resolve its current standoff with India as the two neighbours have full-fledged border-related mechanisms and communication channels to sort out their differences through dialogue.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a media briefing here that China's position on the border issue with India was "consistent and clear" and both the countries have "earnestly" implemented the important consensus reached between their leaders.
Zhao was replying to a question about the phone call between PM Modi and President Trump. In this context, the spokesperson said: "There is no need for the intervention of a third party." This is Beijing's first official reaction to the discussion between Modi and Trump.
President Trump last week said he was "ready, willing and able to mediate" between the two countries. "We have informed both India and China that the United States is ready, willing and able to mediate or arbitrate their now raging border dispute," Trump said in a tweet last week.
Both India and China have rejected Trump's offer of mediation. Indian Army sources said that the Leh-based 14 Corps Commander Lt Gen Harinder Singh is scheduled to hold talks with his Chinese counterpart. Armies of both countries had held talks on Tuesday as well to resolve the crisis. "There have been more than 10 round of talks between the two sides," Army sources said. However, it seemed that the talks had not made much headway as there had been no change in the ground position of both sides.
