At the 14th military commander-level meeting held on Wednesday, India and China agreed to work for the resolution of the remaining conflicts between the two countries along the Line of Actual Control at the earliest, the Union Ministry of Defence said in a statement.

“It was noted that this would help in restoration of peace and tranquility along the LAC in the Western Sector and enable progress in bilateral relations,” the statement said.

India and China have been locked in a border standoff since their troops clashed in Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh in June 2020. Twenty Indian soldiers were killed in the clash. China had put the number of casualties on its side at four.

After several rounds of talks, India and China had disengaged from Pangong Tso Lake in February and Gogra in August in eastern Ladakh.

Wednesday’s meeting was held at the Chushul-Moldo border meeting point on the Chinese side. During the meeting, both sides also agreed to take effective measures to maintain security and stability in the Western Sector, the statement noted.

“The two sides agreed to stay in close contact and maintain dialogue via military and diplomatic channels and work out a mutually acceptable resolution of the remaining issues at the earliest,” he said. “In this context it was also agreed that the next round of the Commanders’ talks should be held at the earliest.”

Meanwhile, unidentified government officials told The Print that it will be difficult to go back to the status quo as of April 2020, given the scale of infrastructure construction on both sides of the Line of Actual Control.

They, however, expressed satisfaction that China has disengaged at several friction points.

“It is significant that the Chinese have pulled back from areas where they had come in and built infrastructure,” an official told The Print. “The Chinese have never done so anywhere else.”