According to senior government officials familiar with the matter, the apex China Study Group (CSG) met on Monday to discuss the PLA action on the ground in Ladakh and its military posture in occupied Aksai Chin region of Tibet. The CSG, which has India’s senior most ministers, military leaders and bureaucrat as members, is the body that recommends the country’s course on action with China. While China wants India to normalize diplomatic relations on an as-is-where-is basis, the Modi government firmly believes that anything short of status quo ante in Ladakh sector is unacceptable with a cost attached to it. According to officials, the Indian Army has been asked to remain in forward positions along the 1597 km LAC in Ladakh. On July 5, the Indian Special Representative on boundary dialogue spoke to his Chinese counterpart for more than two hours .

Source: Hindustan Times August 17, 2020 21:08 UTC