Indian, Chinese troops have begun to implement ‘positive consensus’ on border, says Beijing
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said that both sides are taking steps to deescalate the situation along the Line of Actual Control.
China on Wednesday said that Indian and Chinese troops have begun to implement the “positive consensus” that emerged during talks between senior military officials of the two countries on June 6, PTI reported. India and China had been engaged in a standoff on the North Sikkim and Eastern Ladakh borders over the past month. There have been physical fights between Indian and Chinese troops, leading to injuries.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told a media briefing in Beijing that both sides are taking steps to deescalate the situation along the Line of Actual Control. “Recently the diplomatic and military channels of China and India held effective communication on the situation along the border and reached positive consensus,” she said. “The two sides are following this consensus to take actions to ease the situation along the borders.”
Hua’s remarks came a day after Indian officials said that the Indian and Chinese armies have undertaken a “limited disengagement” in some parts of eastern Ladakh in order to scale down the standoff on the border.
On June 8, China said that its military had reached a consensus with its Indian counterpart not to allow differences escalate into disputes. Hua said on June 8 that the two sides had agreed to implement the consensus, reached between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Chennai last October, that differences should not be allowed to become disputes.
On June 7, India’s External Affairs Ministry also made a conciliatory statement. “The two sides will continue the military and diplomatic engagements to resolve the situation and to ensure peace and tranquillity in the border areas,” the Indian government’s statement said.
There have been reports that China made incursions into Indian territory during last month’s conflict. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been particularly vocal in attacking the government over the matter, asking it to come clean. On Tuesday, Ladakh’s Bharatiya Janata Party MP Jamyang Tsering Namgyal claimed that the Chinese incursions took place during Congress rule.