New Delhi, April 23
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 Ladakh along the LAC.

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 India had ramped up its forces and then withdrawn.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 The stand-off led to the first ever border peace agreement in 1993. Military experts are terming the latest incident along the LAC as serious

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 They have not moved back despite Indian troops having asked them to do so. The Chinese have 37 personnel plus two sniffer dogs in their tent while the Indian Army tent some 500 metres away, has 60 men

Sources said the Indian side proposed that troops of either sides withdraw to the pre-incursion location which was not agreed upon by the Chinese, who, in turn, accused India of getting aggressive in the Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO) sector in northern Ladakh. “Indian troops are doing aggressive patrolling along the LAC,” the Chinese reportedly said. However, it was agreed not to further escalate the situation. An intervention at a higher level was possible to resolve the stand-off.

Chinese troops had on April 15 pitched a tent around 8 km inside the LAC at Raki Nallah in northern Ladakh. They have not moved back despite Indian troops asking them to do so.

Reports said two Chinese copters intruded Indian air space in the Daulat Beg Oldi sector on the night of April 15 and 16 and supervised the intrusion by the People Liberation Army (PLA) troops.

The troop level on either side has been static since April 18. The Chinese have 37 personnel and two sniffer dogs in their tent while the Indian tent some 500 metres away has 60 men.

Miles away from the flag meeting, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said in Beijing: “The two parties should work together to solve the issue through peaceful negotiations so as to create good relations.”

In Delhi, Ministry of External Affairs spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said: “We see this as a face-to-face situation between border personnel of the two sides due to differences on their alignment of LAC.” New Delhi told Beijing that PLA troops have reneged on a laid down and accepted agreement called the “protocol on modalities for implementation of CBMs in the military field along the LAC in the India-China border areas”. Sources said troops on the either side have cited this protocol in the past five days while facing each other. “As per the protocol, soldiers on either side have to show a banner to the other side asking to withdraw,” said sources.

Showing of a banner is a standard operating procedure and is called the ‘banner drill.’ It is done when troops of the two sides come face-to-face due to differences on the alignment of the LAC or any other reason. Whenever either side perceives that a transgression has been made across the LAC, soldiers show a banner with a slogan painted across. The banner primarily cites the 2005 agreement and says there is a need to back off from the present positions of patrolling.

Before this incident, the system was working well. The mandate of the 2005 agreement is: “Throughout the face-to-face situation, neither side shall use force or threaten to use force against the other”.