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A6 WORLD NEWS
TUESDAY 22 SEPTEMBER 2020
India, China commanders meet again on ending border standoff

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — giants have accused each
Senior Indian and Chi- other of sending soldiers
nese military commanders into each other's territory
are holding talks Monday in the Pangong area and
aimed at resolving a tense firing warning shots for the
monthslong standoff along first time in 45 years, raising
their disputed border in the the specter of a full-scale
mountainous Ladakh re- military conflict.
gion. Relations between the two
Details of the talks, held on countries have often been
the Chinese side in the Mol- strained, partly due to their
do area facing the Indian- undemarcated border.
controlled Ladakh region, They fought a border war in
weren't immediately dis- 1962 that spilled into Lada-
closed. kh and ended in an uneasy
For the first time, a senior truce. Since then, troops
Indian foreign ministry offi- have guarded the unde-
cial was also participating fined border, referred as
in the military-level meet- the Line of Actual Control,
ing, said an Indian official, while occasionally brawl-
speaking on condition of ing. They have agreed not
anonymity in line with gov- to attack each other with
ernment regulations. There firearms.
was no information imme- This Sept. 14, 2018 file photo shows Pangong Lake in Ladakh region, India. The fiercely contested con-
diately available from Bei- Associated Press trol line separates Chinese-
jing. and Indian-held territories
Despite several rounds of standoff, maintain proper beyond the cold desert re- clubs, stones and their fists. from Ladakh in the west
talks by military, diplomatic distance and ease ten- gion of Ladakh. Twenty Indian soldiers were to India's eastern state of
and political officials, in- sions. Both India and China have killed. China is believed to Arunachal Pradesh, which
cluding negotiations be- The foreign ministers did provided little information, have also suffered casual- China claims in its entirety.
tween the two countries' not set any timeline for but media in the two coun- ties, but has not given any It is broken in parts where
foreign and defense minis- the disengagement of the tries have given extensive details. the Himalayan nations of
ters in Moscow this month, tens of thousands of troops, coverage to the escalating After that clash, the two Nepal and Bhutan border
the border tensions have backed by artilleries, tanks tensions, which have dra- countries partially disen- China.
persisted. and fighter jets, that have matically changed their bi- gaged from the site in the According to India, the de
Monday's military-level talks been in the region since lateral relations. Galwan Valley and at least facto border is 3,488 kilome-
come less than two weeks the standoff began in May. The standoff in Ladakh two other places, but the ters (2,167 miles) long, while
after the two nations' for- Military experts have re- escalated in June to the crisis has continued in at China says it is considerably
eign ministers met on Sept. peatedly warned that any deadliest violence be- least three other areas, in- shorter. As its name sug-
10 and agreed that their mistake or miscalculation tween the sides in decades cluding glacial Pangong gests, it divides the areas of
troops should disengage from either side can have — a clash on a high ridge Lake. physical control rather than
from the tense border disastrous consequences between soldiers using In recent weeks, the Asian territorial claims.q

Mali's junta leader to be veep of transitional government

after he led a coup to over- ECOWAS had demanded lifted if a civilian president
throw the president. that the president and and prime minister were
The move announced by prime minister in any transi- named. A president and
Col. Assimi Goita himself tional government must be vice president were named
on state television may be civilians, not from the mili- Monday, but there was no
rejected by the interna- tary junta. It was not imme- mention of a prime minister.
tional community, which diately clear whether they In making the announce-
has called for civilian lead- would accept Goita as ment Monday on state
ership during the political vice president as he would broadcaster ORTM, Goita
transition and for the junta still hold a prominent role in said that each transitional
to be dissolved. government. government proposal "has
Goita said that retired Col. Already the regional group its advantages and disad-
Maj. Bah N'Daw, 70, a for- has closed borders to Mali vantages."
mer defense minister, has and stopped financial flows "However, they need to be
been named president to the country in the wake analyzed in a global con-
of the transitional govern- of the coup. It was not im- text, taking into account
ment, which is to be inau- mediately clear what ad- the multidimensional crisis,
In this Monday, Aug. 24, 2020 file photo, Col. Assimi Goita, de- gurated on Sept. 25. Both ditional actions ECOWAS and the functioning prin-
clared himself the leader of the National Committee for the Sal-
vation of the People, arrives to meet with a regional delegation positions were chosen by may take following Mon- ciples and international en-
at the Ministry of Defense in the capital Bamako, Mali. a transition committee se- day's announcement. vironment in which Malians
Associated Press lected by the junta that While ECOWAS has shown operate," he said.
included its members and some flexibility in agreeing Mal's political opposition
By BABA AHMED and CAR- as the vice president in a representatives of political to an 18-month time frame staged weeks of public
LEY PETESCH transitional government parties, civil and religious for holding new elections, demonstrations against
BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — The that is supposed to bring groups. the regional organization former President Ibrahim
head of Mali's military junta about a return to democ- The 15-nation West Afri- has made it clear that Boubacar Keita prior to his
said Monday he will serve racy, more than a month can region bloc known as sanctions would only be ouster in August. q