Emphasising that New Delhi and Beijing had "differing perceptions" of the Line of Actual Control (LAC), Indian officials yesterday said they asked their Chinese counterparts to maintain status quo that existed before the alleged April 15 incursion by Chinese troops in the Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO) sector in Ladakh that led to a 'face to face situation' between their troops.
“We see this as a face-to-face situation between the border personnel of the two sides due to differences on their alignment of the LAC. We have asked the Chinese side to maintain status quo in this sector, by which I mean status quo prior to this incident,” External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said.u00a0
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The term ‘face-to-face’ is referred to the 2005 protocol for implementing CBMs along the LAC. As per the protocol, when border personnel of the two sides come face to face, they are to exercise self-restraint and take all necessary steps to prevent the situation from escalating, Akbaruddin said. Indian and Chinese armies held a brigadier-level flag meeting at DBO, the highest airstrip in the world at 5,100 metres that India reactivated in 2008, sources said. u00a0