India will share with PRC minister evidence of PLA’s LAC misdeeds

NEW DELHI: With both India and China exploring the possibility of holding a bilateral meeting during Chinese Defence Minister General Li Shangfu’s visit to Delhi this month, the diplomatic and defence officials at South Block have been asked to be “ready with documented evidence and satellite images” that establish transgression by PLA soldiers across the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the eastern Ladakh sector and other relevant border regions. “If a bilateral meeting between Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Chinese counterpart takes place, this evidence, satellite images and various other army and intelligence inputs will be shared with him,” top diplomatic sources told The Sunday Guardian. “There is no dearth of evidence with the MEA to establish how China violated existing border agreements and protocols,” a source added.
India is learnt to be keen to arrange a bilateral meeting between the defence ministers of the two countries on the sideline of the SCO conclave so that there could be an opportunity for New Delhi to put its points across. “Negotiations for finalising the meeting are already underway,” sources said. The Chinese Defence Minister will visit New Delhi to attend Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers’ conclave. India under its presidency of SCO has already dispatched the invites for the meeting which is scheduled to take place in New Delhi on 27-29 April. Sources said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is unlikely to meet the Chinese Defence Minister, in what will be a message for Beijing. The visit of Shangfu will be quite crucial as it will be taking place amidst the on-going standoff between the Indian and Chinese forces along the LAC. This will be the first high level military visit since the clashes along the LAC in eastern Ladakh. Shangfu is learnt to have served in the Chinese PLA’s equipment development department. The last meeting between defence ministers of India and China had taken place at the SCO meeting in Moscow 2020, when Rajnath Singh had met with General Wei Fenghe. The LAC issues had been raised during that meeting also.
Defence minister Li Shangfu took charge in March and has been sanctioned by Washington under CAATSA law in the past. But being under sanctions is unlikely to impact his India visit given New Delhi doesn’t follow unilateral sanctions by any country.
According to sources, if a bilateral meeting takes place, India will raise the boundary issue aggressively highlighting the fact that Beijing is disregarding the written pacts which were done for maintaining peace along the LAC.
During the bilateral talks with his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang on the sidelines of the G20 Foreign Ministers’ meeting, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had discussed LAC issues, laying thrust on challenges in bilateral relationship and peace and tranquillity at the border. Similarly, Rajnath Singh will also use the opportunity of the meeting with his Chinese counterpart to share the hard facts about China’s misdeeds at the LAC. In terms of military assessment, the situation along the LAC in eastern Ladakh remains very fragile and quite dangerous, say sources.
Jaishankar recently said that China has continued to alter the status quo on the LAC even after agreeing to resolve issues in eastern Ladakh through peaceful dialogue. He was in fact referring to the assurance given by China in 17 rounds of talks at the Corps Commanders’ level.
The two sides disengaged from Galwan Valley, Gogra, Pangong Tso, and Hot Springs. Both sides continue to discuss disengagement at two crucial friction points: Demchok and Depsang. These two are yet to be resolved.