Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 1

Ten days ahead of the planned informal summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, military commanders of both sides met at formal ceremonial border personnel meetings at five different locations across the Himalayas today.

The meetings were part of the “Chinese national day”. Two such meeting points are in eastern Ladakh, two in Arunachal Pradesh and one in Sikkim. Modi, Xi will meet at Mamallapuram, near Chennai, on October 11 and 12.

The tone and tenor of the militaries stationed along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the de facto boundary running all along the Himalayan ridgeline, has been given new “directions” following the Wuhan summit (April 2018).

The militaries have been tasked to maintain peace along the disputed frontiers in the Himalayas. It has been made clear that issues should be resolved at the local level and not allowed to fester.

Today’s meetings were more of cultural exchange rather than the ones to resolve issues. India will host cultural meetings on Republic Day.

Since Wuhan, the two sides have discussed additional measures for peace along the 3,488-km LAC. This includes the need to keep interacting at unit level, commander level and have a standard protocol for meetings and interacting. The meetings along the LAC address multiplicity of issues all along the disputed frontier.