India, China hold talks to resolve remaining issues in eastern Ladakh

India and China on Friday held “in-depth” diplomatic talks to address the remaining issues along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh, holding that disengagement of troops in the North and South banks of Pangong Lake provided a good basis to work towards their early resolution.

The two countries also agreed during the virtual parleys that in the interim they should continue to maintain stability at ground level and prevent any untoward incident, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement. A Chinese Foreign ministry’s readout of the talks said the two sides agreed to jointly maintain the “hard-earned” peace and tranquility in the border areas.

Both the statements said the two sides agreed to maintain close communication and dialogue through both the diplomatic and military channels and agreed to convene the 11th round of military talks at an early date.

The MEA statement said the two sides should continue their dialogue to reach a mutually acceptable solution for complete disengagement from all friction points at the earliest. “This would enable two sides to look at broader de-escalation of troops in the area and work towards restoration of peace and tranquility in the border areas. They also agreed that in the interim two sides should continue to maintain stability at ground level and prevent any untoward incident,” it added.

The talks were held under the framework of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs.

The MEA said India and China agreed that the agreement reached between the two foreign ministers in Moscow in September last as also their phone conversation in February should continue to guide the work of the two sides.

“The two sides reviewed the situation along the LAC in the Western sector and had in-depth discussions on the remaining issues along the LAC in the Western sector,” it said. “They agreed that the completion of the disengagement in North and South Bank of the Pangong Lake provided a good basis for the two sides to work towards early resolution of these remaining issues.”

An English version of the press release issued by Chinese Foreign ministry said the two sides had in-depth exchange of views on promoting resolution of other issues in the border areas. The Indian delegation was led by Naveen Srivastava, Additional Secretary (East Asia) in the MEA, while the Chinese side was headed by Hong Liang, D-G of boundary and oceanic department of Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.