Ladakh incursion: 'China should maintain status quo'

Describing as "face to face" the situation arising out of incursion by Chinese troops in Daulat Beg Oldi sector in Ladakh, India on Tuesday asked China to maintain the earlier status quo.

Hoping that the situation with China would be resolved peacefully, India said it can be done under the agreements signed by both countries.

The recent Chinese incursion was due to differences on alignment of Line of Actual Control, Official Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs Syed Akbaruddin told reporters.

He added that incident was a "localised event" in a sector where there are differing perceptions on LAC.

 "We see this as a face to face situation between border forces" of both countries, he said.

Speaking about the steps taken by the government since the incident on April 15, Akbaruddin said India has asked China to maintain status quo as it was before the incursion.

He underlined that the India-China border continues to remain peaceful.

The MEA official said local military commanders of India and China are holding a flag meeting in a bid to resolve the situation.

India had raised the issue with China last week immediately after the incident of Chinese incursion came to light.

Apart from summoning the Chinese ambassador to South Block, the 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.

Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai had summoned Chinese Ambassador Wei Wei to South Block and stressed the need for resolving the issue.

A platoon-strength contingent of China's People's Liberation Army came 10 km inside the Indian territory in Burthe in DBO sector, which is at an altitude of about 17,000 feet, on the night of April 15 and established a tented post there, according to highly placed sources.