India and China agreed to de-escalate border tensions and take steps to restore ‘peace and tranquility’ at a two-hour meeting of Indian and Chinese foreign ministers in Moscow on Thursday. The two nations reached a five-point consensus and were in consonance that the current border situation is not in their interests and that troops from both sides should quickly disengage and ease tensions, said a joint statement.
India highlighted its “strong concern at the massing of Chinese troops with equipment along the Line of Actual Control (LAC)”.
“The provocative behaviour of Chinese frontline troops at numerous incidents of friction along the LAC also showed disregard for bilateral agreements and protocols,” Beijing was told.
“The presence of such large concentration of troops was not in accordance with the 1993 and 1996 agreements and created flash points along the LAC. The Chinese side has not provided a credible explanation for this deployment,” Foreign Minister S Jaishankar told China.
The immediate task, “to prevent any untoward incident in the future”, is “to ensure a comprehensive disengagement of troops in all the friction areas,” India told China.
What China said
“Wang outlined China’s stern position on the situation in border areas, emphasising that the imperative is to immediately stop provocation such as firing and other dangerous situation that violate the commitments made by the two sides,” said the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
“It is also important to move back all personal and equipment that have trespassed, the frontier troops must quickly disengage so that situation may de-escalate,” the statement further said.
China emphasised that it is willing to support enhanced dialogue between the frontier troops on both sides to resolve specific issues.
The statement read, “The Chinese side will stay in touch with the Indian side through diplomatic and military channels and be committed to restoring peace and tranquillity in the border areas.” The statement issued by China after talks also highlighted points made by the Indian side.
“The Indian side does not consider the development of India-China relations to be dependent on the settlement of the boundary question and India does not want to go backwards. The Indian side is prepared to work with China to ease tension on the border through dialogue and negotiation and to restore and maintain peace and tranquillity in the border areas,” said the Foreign Ministry.
