Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday held a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia.
This was the first formal meeting of the two leaders since the military standoff began in mid-2020 along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh.
It came two days after New Delhi announced that India and China had reached a patrolling arrangement along the Line of Actual Control “leading to the disengagement” of the two countries’ militaries in eastern Ladakh.
Border tensions between India and China escalated after June 2020 when a violent face-off between Indian and Chinese soldiers took place in Ladakh’s Galwan Valley along the Line of Actual Control. It led to the deaths of 20 Indian soldiers. Beijing said that the clash left four of its soldiers dead.
Since the Galwan clashes, China and India have held several rounds of military and diplomatic talks to resolve their border standoff.
On Wednesday, the Ministry of External Affairs said that Modi and Xi welcomed the agreement “for complete disengagement and resolution” of the problems at the boundary areas.
During the meeting with Xi, Modi “underscored the importance of properly handling differences and disputes and not allowing them to disturb peace and tranquillity” at the border, the ministry said in a press release.
“The two leaders agreed that the special representatives on the India-China boundary question will meet at an early date to oversee the management of peace and tranquillity in border areas and to explore a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution to the boundary question,” it said.
The dialogue mechanisms at the level of the foreign ministers and other officials will also be used to “stabilise and rebuild” the bilateral relations, the external affairs ministry said.
The ministry added that Modi and Xi affirmed that stable, predictable and amicable ties between India and China “will have a positive impact on regional and global peace and prosperity”.
“It will also contribute to a multi-polar Asia and a multi-polar world,” read the press release.
The two leaders also underscored the “need to progress bilateral relations from a strategic and long-term perspective, enhance strategic communication and explore cooperation” to address developmental challenges, it said.
On Monday, Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri did not provide details about the agreement on patrolling. The Ministry of External Affairs also did not clarify at the time if the two sides had completed their disengagement in the region.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Monday that the agreement would mean that “we have gone back to the 2020 position”. “With that we can say the disengagement with China has been completed,” he said at an event organised by NDTV.
“There are areas, which for various reasons after 2020, they blocked us, we blocked them,” he said. “We have now reached an understanding, which will allow patrolling as we had been doing till 2020.”
On Tuesday, China confirmed that the two sides had arrived at a resolution on the “relevant matters”. The statement by Beijing also did not provide details of the agreement.
On Tuesday, Indian Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi said that the country’s forces will disengage with the Chinese military along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh after the status quo of April 2020 is restored.
“As far as we are concerned, we want to go back to the status quo of April 2020,” Dwivedi had said. “Thereafter we will be looking at disengagement, de-escalation and normal management of the LAC...This has been our stand since April 2020.”
Dwivedi added that the “normal management” of the Line of Actual Control will be achieved in a phased manner.
Buy an annual Scroll Membership to support independent journalism and get special benefits.
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!