BEIJING: The border troops of China and India have been taking effective measures in disengagement, and the two sides will hold a new round of commander-level talks, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.
“China and India will continue dialogue and communication through military and diplomatic channels and hold meeting of working mechanism for consultation and coordination on border affairs, Chinese Foreign ministry’s Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said while updating on the latest situation of China-India border standoff during his regular briefing held here.
He informed that following the consensus reached at the commander-level talks, China-India border troops have taken effective measures to disengage at the frontline at the Galwan Valley and other areas.
The spokesperson informed that the situation along the border between China and India was basically stable and improving.
“The two sides will continue dialogue and communication through military and diplomatic channels including by holding meeting of the working mechanism for consultation and coordination on border affairs,” he added.
He said that the Chinese side hoped India would work together with it to take concrete action to implement the consensus reached between two sides and jointly work for de-escalation along the border.
The two militaries held the third round of Lt General -level talk on June 30 and agreed to work to implement the consensus reached at the two previous rounds of talks.The first round of the commander-level talks was held on June 6 during which both sides finalized an agreement to disengage gradually from all the standoff points beginning with Galwan Valley.
However, the situation turned deadly on June 15 when the rival soldiers engaged in a nightly medieval clash in Galwan Valley, where India was building a strategic road connecting the region to an airstrip close to China. As many as 20 Indian soldiers were killed during the fight.
On July 3, Indian Prime Minister Modi and his senior defense officials visited the so-called “Ladakh region” on the frontline of the Sino-Indian border conflict. According to some Chinese military experts, Modi’s trip was contrary to the consensus reached on June 30.
On July 5, Chinese Special Representative, State Councilor, and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held a phone conversation with Indian Special Representative and Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval on the Sino-Indian boundary issue.
The disputed border covers nearly 3,500 kilometers (2,175 miles) of frontier that the two countries call the Line of Actual Control and that stretches from Ladakh in the north to the Indian state of Sikkim in the northeast.
The two countries have been trying to settle their border dispute since the early 1990s without success. Since then, soldiers from the two sides have frequently faced off along the contested frontier.
India unilaterally declared Ladakh a federal territory while separating it from disputed Kashmir in August 2019.
China was among the countries to strongly condemn the move, raising it at international forums including the U.N. Security Council.—APP
