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‘Will ensure disengagement of troops at LAC’: India, China reiterate stand
The two sides maintained that “peace and tranquillity in the border areas” was essential for overall development of the bilateral relations.
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India and China on Friday once again reiterated that they will work to ensure “complete disengagement of the troops” along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Ladakh region, where 15 Indian soldiers were killed on June 15 in a violent face off with the Chinese army. The comments were made at the 16th meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation & Coordination (WMCC) on India-China Border Affairs.
The two sides maintained that “peace and tranquillity in the border areas” was essential for overall development of the bilateral relations.
On Tuesday, the Chinese foreign ministry had told HT that its troops had begun to disengage from the Galwan Valley, a day after New Delhi and Beijing simultaneously announced their decision to deescalate the two-month long tense situation in the area.
In all, the two sides have had three meetings between military corps commanders on June 6, 22 and 30 and two meetings of the WMCC on June 5 and 24.
At todays’ meeting, the Indian delegation was led by Joint Secretary (East Asia) from the Ministry of External Affairs, while the Director General of the Boundary & Oceanic Department of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs led the Chinese delegation.
The two sides drew on the agreement reached between two foreign ministers on June 17 as well as the agreement arrived at between the two Special Representatives on July 5.
The two countries reviewed the progress made in ongoing disengagement along the LAC in Ladakh and agreed that it was “necessary for both sides to sincerely implement the understandings” reached between them.
It was decided to keep the communication lines at the diplomatic and military level open between the two sides. They also agreed to hold another meeting, but stopped short of giving a date and time.
In another related development, Chinese envoy to India Sun Weidong underlined the need for India and China to be partners rather than rivals. He further emphasised that the two countries should pursue win-win cooperation instead of a zero-sum game. He called on the need to build trust rather than suspicion and made a push for bilateral ties to move forward rather than backward.
