Negotiations on with China to resolve incursion issue, says Antony

Bangalore: India today said negotiations are in progress at “various levels” to resolve the incursion issue with China peacefully. “Negotiations are going on at various levels to resolve the issue peacefully,” Defence Minister A K Antony told reporters here. “Our government will take every step to protect the national integrity and security”, he said, when asked about the issue. [caption id=“attachment_724699” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Reuters[/caption] On Tuesday, India asked China to revert to the status quo position in Depsang Valley in Ladakh where troops of both countries were in a face-to-face situation after Chinese forces intruded nearly 10kms inside Indian territory. “We have asked the Chinese side to maintain the status quo in this sector (of the western border),” official spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs Syed Akbaruddin had said, adding, “by this I mean the status quo prior to this incident.” He had also added that “we see this as a face-to-face situation between border personnel of two sides due to differences on their alignment of Line of Actual Control”. The term “face-to-face” is not something that India has “conjured up”, it is something that is referred to in 2005 Protocol for implementation of CBMs in military field in the LAC in India-China border areas, he had said. PTI