India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi and discussed the outstanding matters between the two countries along the Line of Actual Control.
The hour-long meeting between the Indian and Chinese leaders took place on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Tajikistan’s capital Dushanbe.
Jaishankar said after the meeting that the complete restoration and maintenance of peace in border areas was essential to the development of the relationship between India and China. “Highlighted that unilateral change of status quo is not acceptable,” Jaishankar added.
The foreign minister also announced that India and China had agreed to hold an early meeting of the senior military commanders to discuss the standoff.
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The ties between India and China have been strained since their troops clashed in Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh in June last year. Twenty Indian soldiers were killed in the clash. China put the number of casualties on its side at four. Since the violent face-off, the two countries have held several rounds of military and diplomatic talks to reduce tensions.
Even as the two countries continue to resolve tensions, a report by Business Standard on Wednesday claimed that Chinese and Indian troops clashed in Galwan Valley again. It is not clear when the incident took place or if there were any casualties.
In February, India and China had announced an agreement for disengagement on the North and South Bank of Pangong Tso in Ladakh to cease their forward deployments in a “phased, coordinated and verified manner” following a series of military and diplomatic talks. Both the countries are now engaged in talks to extend the disengagement process to the remaining friction points.
But, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army has now crossed the Line of Actual Control at several places, according to Business Standard.
However, the Indian Army refuted the story. “The article is riddled with inaccuracies and misinformation,” it said. “It is reiterated that the news report mentioning that agreements with China have collapsed, is false and baseless. Ever since the disengagement agreement in February this year, there has been no attempt by either side to occupy the areas from where the dis-engagement had been undertaken.”
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