China in no mood to withdraw

• Intruded 10km into Indian territory in Ladakh
• India asks for status quo; no breakthrough at talks

New Delhi (PTI): India on Tuesday asked China to revert to the status quo position in Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO) sector in Ladakh where troops of both countries were in a face-to-face situation after Chinese forces intruded nearly 10km inside Indian territory eight days ago.

"We have asked the Chinese side to maintain the status quo in this sector (of the western border)," official spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs Syed Akbaruddin said, adding, "by this I mean the status quo prior to this incident." He also added that "we see this as a face-to-face situation between border personnel of two sides due to differences on their alignment of Line of Actual Control".

"Both sides shall also enter into immediate consultations through diplomatic and/or other available channels to review the situation and prevent any escalation of tension."

The official spokesperson's remarks came even as the local military commanders of India and China held a flag meeting on Tuesday in a bid to resolve the situation arising out of the incursion. The meeting did not make any breakthrough.

Speaking about the steps taken by the government since the incident on April 15, the spokesperson said, India raised the issue with China last week immediately after the Chinese incursion came to light.

Apart from Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai summoning the Chinese Ambassador to South Block, Gautam Bambawale, Joint Secretary in MEA, who is heading the India-China joint working mechanism to deal with issues on the boundary from the Indian side, spoke to his counterpart in Beijing last week, emphasising on the need to resolve the issue.

The Chinese side said they would look into the issue and respond accordingly. However, when contacted the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi reiterated the comments made by their Foreign Ministry spokesperson in Beijing on Monday. Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying had said on Monday that "China's frontier troops had been abiding by the agreement between the two countries and abiding by the LAC agreed by the two countries.