New Delhi: In a joint statement issued on Tuesday evening on the sixth round of Corps Commanders talks, China and India agreed to stop sending more troops to their disputed border in the Himalayas, following an escalation in tensions between the two nuclear powers.
Senior military officials from both countries met on Monday and exchanged ideas on their contested contested Himalayan border in Ladakh, Chinese defence ministry spokesman Wu Qian said on Tuesday.
In a joint statement, both sides agreed to strengthen communication on the ground to avoid misunderstandings or action “that may complicate the situation.”
According to the statement, They also agreed to not take any unilateral action that would change the situation on the ground. Another round of high-level military meetings will be held “as soon as possible,” the statement said.
However, the statement did not mention any breakthrough during the talks about the troops’ disengagement.
Prior to the agreement, tensions between the two powers had persisted despite several attempts to find a diplomatic, military and political solution, including repeated negotiations in Moscow this month.
India has pressed for a road map for complete disengagement and de-induction of Chinese troops from all friction points and along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the source added. For the first time, a Joint Secretary from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) was present at the talks.
The most recent dispute was around Pangong Tso, a strategically located lake some 14,000 feet (4,200 meters) above sea level that spans an area stretching from the Indian territory of Ladakh to Chinese-controlled Tibet, in the greater Kashmir region, where India, China and Pakistan all claim territory.
The Line of Actual Control, which marks the de facto border and passes through the lake, was established in the wake of the 1962 Sino-Indian war. Though it shows up on maps, India and China do not agree on its precise location and both regularly accuse the other of overstepping it, or seeking to expand their territory.
In 1996, the two countries signed an agreement which states that neither side shall open fire within 2 kilometers (1.24 miles) from the LAC to “prevent dangerous military activities.”