FLAG MEET WITH CHINA

• A second flag meeting between India and China to sort out the issue of intrusion by Chinese troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in northern Ladakh remained inconclusive even as the two countries traded charges against each other.
• Delhi reminded Beijing that the act of its troops of not moving back was a violation of an‘operational’ agreement signed between the two nations in April 2005. The flag meeting was held between Brigadier-level officers at Chushul in eastern Ladakhalong the LAC.

 

CURRENT STANDOFF:

• The current standoff is a result of Chinese intrusion in the Daulat Beg Oldie sector

 BORDER FACE-OFF:

• The Indian side proposed that troops on either side withdraw to the pre-incursion location at the second flag meet
• This was not agreeable to China, who, in turn, accused India of getting aggressive in the Daulat Beg Oldie sector in northern Ladakh
• Chinese troops had on April 15 pitched a tent around 8 km inside the LAC in the Raki Nallah area in northern Ladakh

 BEIJING’S OLD WAYS:

• The current incursion, wherein a tent has been pitched in Indian territory, is the first such incident in Ladakh after 1962
• In 1987, Chinese troops had resorted to a similar exercise at Sum Dorong Chu, north of Tawang in Arunachal. India had ramped up its forces and then withdrawn. China still holds that territory