In the matter of India-China stand-off, the country has been maintaining that its ties with Dragon nation can never ease out unless peace prevails along borders and issues at LAC mutual settled as the relations between the two top populated countries became sour following the expansionist intrusion by China and followed by a deadly clash in the Galwan in June 2020.
As the two neighbouring countries are heading towards 19th round of high level military talks on August 14, 2023, the big question is whether China is interested in peace between the two nations because had this was the case why People's Liberation Army (PLA) would have attacked the Indian soldiers at the first place and why Chinese troops tried to trespass the Indian territory.
Though this time, the situation is far different as India of today is not a nation who could be subdued by force as China did in 1960s and thenceforth. India has come prepared with National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval making ground after having one to one meeting with top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi on the sidelines of a meeting of the five-nation grouping BRICS in Johannesburg on July 24, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping stressing on the need to stabilise bilateral relations at a dinner during the G-20 summit in Bali last year.
In the backdrop of these talks, it seems that the position of India has improved a lot and it is set to press for early disengagement of troops from the remaining friction points in eastern Ladakh at the upcoming round of high-level military talks with China on August 14.
It is pertinent to mention that China has not yet realised the sentiments of India's sovereignty and has been unnecessarily prolonging the stalemate. This will be the 19th round of Corps Commander level dialogue that will take place around four months after the last edition of the military talks were held to ease tensions in the region. Troops of both the countries have locked horns in an over three-year standoff in certain friction points in eastern Ladakh even as the two sides completed disengagement from several areas following extensive diplomatic and military talks.
In the 18th round of the military dialogue that was held on April 23, the Indian side strongly pressed for resolving the lingering issues at Depsang and Demchok. The fresh round of talks is set to take place at Chushul-Moldo border meeting point on the Indian side.
After a series of military and diplomatic talks, the two sides completed the disengagement process in 2021 on the north and south banks of the Pangong lake and in the Gogra area but still there is long way to go as India wanted to resolve the issue as soon as possible but what is important is expansionist China's stance with the most of its neighbours including India coming in the way and because the Dragon's manoeuvres are unpredictable making things difficult.
