Moscow Has No Plans to Mediate India-China Talks on Ladakh, Russian Ambassador Says
07:08 GMT 10.02.2022 (Updated: 10:42 GMT 19.07.2022)
© REUTERS / Indian Army
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MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Moscow has no plans to mediate between India and China over the longstanding border conflict in the Ladakh region, new Russian Ambassador to India Denis Alipov said in an interview with Sputnik, adding that Russia is counting on resolving the situation through diplomacy.
"No. We have no such plans [to be an intermediary]. But if such a wish is expressed on both sides, then, of course, we will consider it most carefully. We have no mediation plans for a simple reason: both sides view the territorial dispute between them as a purely bilateral matter," Alipov said.
Moscow respects this position and is not going to interfere, the diplomat said, expressing hope that the territorial problem will be resolved as soon as possible by purely diplomatic means.
Earlier, China and India have started the 14th round of corps commander-level negotiations to resolve the 20-month border conflict in the Ladakh region.
The previous round of talks took place in October 2021 and did not bring any results. The Indian defence ministry said Chinese negotiators rejected its call for restoring peace in the area of the de facto border, referred to as the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
Shortly before the negotiation, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said that the situation on the border was generally stable and the parties were maintaining dialogue through diplomatic and military channels.
The lack of a marked border between India and China has long been a source of tensions between the countries. Tensions escalated in May 2020 as a series of clashes between border forces led to multiple fatalities.
In a bid to settle the conflict, the two nations launched disengagement consultations in early June 2020, with the first phase of disengagement on the northern and southern banks of Pangong Lake completed last February. The situation once again escalated in September 2021 prompting both countries to resume troop deployment near the LAC. Since then, China has repeatedly accused India of provocations, which it dismissed as groundless.
Shortly before the negotiation, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said that the situation on the border was generally stable and the parties were maintaining dialogue through diplomatic and military channels.
The lack of a marked border between India and China has long been a source of tensions between the countries. Tensions escalated in May 2020 as a series of clashes between border forces led to multiple fatalities.
In a bid to settle the conflict, the two nations launched disengagement consultations in early June 2020, with the first phase of disengagement on the northern and southern banks of Pangong Lake completed last February. The situation once again escalated in September 2021 prompting both countries to resume troop deployment near the LAC. Since then, China has repeatedly accused India of provocations, which it dismissed as groundless.
