On Wednesday, India and China conducted border discussions despite news that Beijing was pushing hard to build roads and other infrastructure in the Karakoram region.
The meetings were held at the Major General level, which is a lesser level than the negotiations at the Corps Commander level that have been held on a regular basis since border tensions escalated during the bloody incident at Galwan in June 2020.
India brought up issues including Chinese infrastructure construction close to the border that is against agreements and commitments to maintain calm along the Line of Actual Control. China has been pushing hard to build infrastructure in and around the Ladakh region’s contentious areas.
These initiatives are being closely watched, particularly road building projects in the Karakoram region, which is close to a vital trijunction of India, China, and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK). A region of Jammu and Kashmir that Pakistan relinquished in 1963 is the Shaksgam valley, where China has also been developing infrastructure.
While there hasn’t been a significant outbreak of violence on the LAC since 2020, China has kept the border problem alive by keeping troops deployed along the disputed areas. After a series of provocative moves, including sorties by fighter jets close to contested areas, India had warned China against violating air space and breaking confidence-building measures in Eastern Ladakh during the most recent round of negotiations in early August.
At the Chushul-Moldo border crossing in Eastern Ladakh, representatives of the Indian Air Force and the Peoples Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) held a special round of negotiations.
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