Beijing: China and India on Wednesday agreed to “strictly abide” by the important consensus reached by their leaders and a series of agreements, further strengthen the confidence-building measures in the military field and jointly safeguard peace and tranquility in the border areas, the Chinese foreign ministry said.
The senior diplomats of the two countries held “candid and in-depth” talks through video conference to explore ways to ease the tension along the Line of Actual Control in the eastern Ladakh region after the armies of the two countries clashed on June 15.
The talks were held between Director General Hong Liang of the Department of Boundary and Oceanic Affairs at the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Joint Secretary (East Asia) at the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Naveen Srivastava.
“The two sides had a candid and in-depth exchange of views on the recent china-India border situation and expressed to earnestly implement the important consensus reached by the foreign ministers of the two countries during their phone call on June 17,” a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said here.
The two sides will actively cooperate with the militaries of the two countries to implement the outcomes of the two rounds of military-level talks on June 06 and June 22. The two sides agreed to strengthen communication and coordination through military and diplomatic channels and peacefully resolve relevant issues in border areas through bilateral dialogue and consultation, it said.
“The two sides agreed to strictly abide by the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries and a series of agreements signed by the two sides, further strengthen confidence-building measures in the military field and jointly safeguard peace and tranquility in the border areas,” the statement said.
The Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on Border Affairs between China and India was also attended by representatives from the foreign affairs, defence, immigration and other departments of the two countries.
The talks took place two days after Chinese and Indian armies arrived at a “mutual consensus” to “disengage” from all the friction points in eastern Ladakh.
Earlier in the day, asserting that China and India are “important neighbours to each other”, Chinese Foreign ministry said maintaining peace and tranquility along the Sino-India border is in the common interests of both the parties and requires joint efforts.
In separate statements, the Chinese foreign and the defence ministries, however, repeated Beijing’s stand that India was responsible for the June 15 violent face-off in eastern Ladakh.
Defence Ministry spokesman Col Wu Qian said the two defence ministers are negotiating on the phone. “The two sides held a second military-level meeting on June 22 to exchange in-depth views on controlling tensions and maintaining peace and stability in the border areas,” he said.
Noting that China and India are important neighbours to each other, Wu said that maintaining peace and tranquility in the border area is in the common interests of both parties and requires the joint efforts of both parties.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said the foreign ministers of the two sides during their telephone talk on June 17 agreed to deal with this serious matter in a just way.
“The two sides will stick to the Commander-level meeting consensus and cool down the situations as soon as possible. The two sides will also maintain peace and tranquility of the border areas, in accordance with the agreement reached so far,” he said.
Zhao also said that a second round of Commander-level meeting was held on June 22 and 23 during which the “two sides agreed to take measures to de-escalate the situation and jointly promote peace and tranquility.”
The talks were held in the midst of escalating tension between the two countries following the violent clashes in Galwan Valley on June 15 that left 20 Indian Army personnel dead, significantly escalating the already volatile situation in the region.
Zhao again accused India of “provoking” a border clash, saying “the onus is not on China’s part.”
“This risky behaviour by the Indian side greatly violated the agreement between the two countries and the basic norms guiding international relations. It’s very serious, with very severe consequences,” he said.
Asked why after a positive meeting between the Commanders of the two armed forces, he is repeating the allegations, Zhao said, “what I have just said is meant to clarify the whole situation, tell the truth to everyone. We made this statement because the MEA in India and also Indian media have made some false reports.”
The Indian and Chinese armies are engaged in the standoff in Pangong Tso, Galwan Valley, Demchok and Daulat Beg Oldie in eastern Ladakh. A sizable number of Chinese Army personnel even transgressed into the Indian side of the de-facto border in several areas including Pangong Tso.
The Indian Army has been fiercely objecting to the transgressions, and demanded their immediate withdrawal for restoration of peace and tranquility in the area. Both sides held a series of talks in the last few days to resolve the border row.
