New Delhi . The Chinese Defense Ministry has said that China and India have agreed to continue talks to end the standoff in eastern Ladakh and withdraw troops from the conflict areas.
Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson Zhang Xiaogang said that China and India have maintained contacts with each other through diplomatic and military channels. This includes discussions between the foreign ministers of the two countries and the Foreign Minister of China and India’s National Security Advisor and through the border consultation mechanism.
Zhang told reporters that through the talks, both China and India were able to reach some consensus, besides agreeing to narrow down their differences and strengthen dialogue to accommodate each other’s legitimate concerns. Both sides agreed to reach a solution as soon as possible that is acceptable to both sides, he said. He was responding to a question on talks between the two countries on disengagement of troops from the remaining friction points, especially Demchok and Depsang, to end the more than four-year-long military standoff in eastern Ladakh. The standoff had resulted in a standstill in relations between the two countries.
Zhang referred to the meeting between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi as well as the recent meeting between Wang and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on the sidelines of the BRICS meeting in Russia. Commenting on the talks between Wang and Doval, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning had said on September 3 that the frontline armies of both the countries have retreated from four areas in the western area of the China-India border, including the Galwan Valley. Is included.
In response to questions, Zhang did not comment on the progress of the withdrawal of troops from the remaining areas including Depsang and Demchok, but said both sides would continue to consolidate the results. “We will continue to consolidate the results we have reached and respect bilateral agreements and mutual confidence-building measures to maintain peace and tranquility on the border,” he said.
His comments regarding bilateral agreements came when Jaishankar, while addressing an event organized by Asia Society and Asia Society Policy Institute in New York on Tuesday, said that there are a series of agreements between the two countries which provide greater detail on Asks to discuss how to maintain peace and stability on the border. He said, the problem was in 2020, despite these very clear agreements, we saw China – we were all in the middle of Covid at that time – moving a large number of troops to the Line of Actual Control in violation of these agreements. And we responded in the same way.