India
on Thursday once again said that its relationship with China is 'not
normal' and that both sides are engaged in diplomatic and military talks
to resolve the pending issues in eastern Ladakh.
The Indian and
Chinese troops are locked in an over three-and-half-year confrontation
in certain friction points in eastern Ladakh even as the two sides
completed disengagement from several areas following extensive
diplomatic and military talks.
"Our position on China is very well
known. It is a relationship which is not normal but we have had
dialogues both on the military side as well as on the diplomatic side,"
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.
His
comments at a media briefing came in response to a question on the
situation in eastern Ladakh.
Jaiswal also referred to the last rounds
of military and diplomatic talks between the two sides in October and
November respectively.
"The idea is that we engage so that we can have
some sort of resolution," he said.
In the military talks on October 9
and 10, the two sides exchanged views in an open and constructive manner
for an early and mutually acceptable resolution of the remaining issues
along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Western Sector.
The
government refers to eastern Ladakh as Western Sector.
On the
diplomatic talks that took place on November 30, Jaiswal said both sides
had an in-depth and constructive discussion and looked at proposals to
resolve remaining issues and achieve complete disengagement in eastern
Ladakh.
India has been maintaining that its ties with China cannot be
normal unless there is peace in the border areas.
The eastern Ladakh
border standoff erupted on May 5, 2020, following a violent clash in the
Pangong lake area.
The relations between the two countries nosedived
significantly following the fierce clash in the Galwan Valley in June
2020 that marked the most serious military conflict between the two
sides in decades.
As a result of a series of military and diplomatic
talks, the two sides completed the disengagement process in 2021 on the
north and south banks of the Pangong lake and in the Gogra area. -- PTI