S Jaishankar, Wang Yi agree on 5 points to resolve stand-off along India-China disputed boundary

India did not want tension to escalate along disputed boundary, S Jaishankar told China's Wang

Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi have agreed that the Indian Army and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of the communist country should quickly pull back troops, stay away from each other’s positions and defuse tension along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) – the de facto boundary between the two nations.

The meeting between Jaishankar and Wang on the sidelines of a conclave of the Foreign Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) on Thursday, which resulted in a five-point consensus to resolve the stand-off along LAC between India and China.

Read: Indian Army further strengthens dominance in strategic heights in eastern Ladakh

They agreed that the current situation in India-China border areas was “not in the interest of either side” and hence the Indian Army and the Chinese PLA “should continue their dialogue, quickly disengage, maintain proper distance and ease tension”, according to a joint statement issued after the meeting.

Both the sides agreed that the immediate task was to ensure a comprehensive disengagement of troops in all the face-off points along the LAC, which was necessary to prevent any untoward incident.

The final disposition of the troop deployment to their permanent posts and the phasing of the process would be worked out by the military commanders, sources in New Delhi said.

The ministers agreed that both sides “should take guidance from the series of consensus” reached between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Chinese President Xi Jinping “on developing India-China relations, including not allowing differences to become disputes”, according to the joint statement.

The leaders concurred that both the nations should abide by all the existing agreements and protocol on China-India boundary affairs, maintain peace and tranquillity in the border areas and avoid any action that could escalate matters.

India and China will continue to have dialogue and communication through the Special Representatives mandated to represent the two governments in the bilateral negotiations to settle the boundary dispute.

They also agreed that the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China border affairs (WMCC) should also continue its meetings.

A statement released by the Chinese Government quoted Wang telling Jaishankar during the meeting that Beijing was “willing to support enhanced dialogue between the frontier troops” of China and India to “resolve specific issues” along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) – the de facto border between the two nations. China would “stay in touch” with India “through diplomatic and military channels” and remain “committed to restoring peace and tranquillity in border areas”.

Also Read: Chinese troops carry rods, spears and clubs in aggressive approach towards Indian post along LAC

Earlier, on Thursday, DH reported that as Jaishankar and Wang had met in Moscow, New Delhi and Beijing had agreed to restart negotiations between the senior military commanders of the two nations to resolve the stand-off along the disputed boundary between them in eastern Ladakh.

The statement circulated by the embassy of the communist country in New Delhi also quoted Jaishankar telling Wang that India did not want “tension to escalate” along its disputed boundary with China. He was also quoted saying that India’s policy toward China had not changed and that New Delhi believed that China’s policy toward India had not changed either.

New Delhi has been maintaining over the past few weeks that China must withdraw its troops from the territory of India and restore the status quo ante along the LAC for bringing the relations between the two nations back on track.

Jaishankar articulated New Delhi’s position, stating that the future of India-China relations could not be separated from the situation in the border areas. Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla too recently stated that business could not be as usual between India and China unless and until the communist country’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) pulled back troops to restore the status quo ante along the LAC.

Also Read: China must adhere to its border peace pacts with India, Jaishankar tells Wang in Moscow

But the statement issued by the Chinese Government after the Jaishankar-Wang meeting claimed that New Delhi did not consider the development of India-China relations “to be dependent on the settlement of the boundary question”. It also claimed that India did not want to go backward on its relations with China.

The Chinese PLA deployed a large number of troops along the disputed boundary between the two nations and made moves to unilaterally change the status quo along the LAC in late April and early May. The Indian Army too deployed additional troops, resulting in the stand-off, which soon spread to other areas in eastern Ladakh.

The stand-off brought the relations between the two nations to a new low, particularly after the violent face-off between the Indian Army and the Chinese PLA in Galwan Valley on June 15. The Indian Army lost 21 of its soldiers. The PLA too suffered casualties, but it never made public the number of its soldiers, who were injured or killed in the clash.

Tension along the LAC has escalated over the past few days, particularly on both banks of Pangong Tso, where the soldiers of the Indian Army and the Chinese PLA are currently engaged in an eyeball-to-eyeball stand-off.