NEW DELHI — Defense-level talks held here Monday between India and China failed to make any progress on a long-standing border dispute between the two neighbors, analysts said.
India and China held defense-level talks here Monday November 16 to "maintain peace and tranquility in border areas," according to an says the official release of the Indian Ministry of Defence statement. (MoD).
China's top ranking military Gen.eral Fan Changlong, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the People's Republic of China, headed a 26-member delegation that held talks with the Indian side, led headed by the Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.
"This is the highest level defense delegation to visit India in the recent years. The visit signifies the enhanced defense exchanges between India and China," according to an Indian Defence Ministry news release. says the MoD release.
However, analysts said the meeting failed to did not achieved no significant progress on the border dispute, and that local result and border-level local skirmishes could can still happen at any time because as there is no established institutional framework to check these incidents, which have increased during had been on the rise in the past two to three years.
"The Chinese are not serious about establishing any institutional apparatus to check border skirmishes as Beijing appears to be not giving any priority to reduce border-level tensions," says Nitin Mehta, defense analyst here.
"The border between the two countries is 4,056 kilometers of area, mostly in mountainous terrain, called the Line of Actual Control, [LAC], which is neither marked on the ground nor on mutually acceptable maps," said Mehta.
China claims 92,000 square kilometers of Indian territory and the two countries fought a brief battle in 1962 over a boundary dispute that has not been resolved despite numerous negotiations. scores of delegation talks between the two countries.
The MoD statement offered no official release did not list any concrete steps to maintain a be taken to keep tranquil on the Indo-Chinese border, Mehta said.
The MoD release merely said, "They [India and China delegations] felt that two armed forces shoulder important responsibilities for maintenance of peace and tranquility and agreed to further enhance communications and exchanges between the two armed forces," Mehta said.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to China in May also 2015 failed to make any progress break any ice on the long standing boundary dispute.
Officials here were expecting that with his huge mandate in Parliament and aggressive style of dealing with issues, Modi could make a breakthrough. But on the boundary dispute.the leaders failed to agree on to reach any mechanism to formalize the border. between the two countries which is not demarcated and is only
In 2013, India and China inked the Border Defence Cooperation Agreement (BDCA) during a visit by former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh 's visit to Beijing, establishing a formal mechanism to improve security along the their 4056 kilometers long Line of Actual Control.
"However, the agreement has yet to translate into any real structural mechanism on the ground," says Mehta.
With no breakthrough in talks, tensions will continue between the two neighbors, will stay, says Mahindra Singh, retired Indian Army major general.
"India will have to increase its fund allocations toward creating infrastructure, buying weapons and equipment for the Indo-Chinese border," Singh said.
Email: vraghuvanshi@defensenews.com
Vivek Raghuvanshi is the India correspondent for Defense News.
