Beijing
Both India and China are preparing for Special Representatives talks and other meetings to discuss next steps for the management of the Line of Actual Control (LAC). The Ministry of External Affairs gave this information. The comments by Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal came a day after talks between India and China under the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) on border matters in New Delhi.
During the WMCC meeting held in New Delhi on Thursday, both sides had agreed to maintain peace and harmony in the border areas as per bilateral agreements and protocols. India and China on Thursday discussed the findings of the border dispute in their first diplomatic talks under a key dialogue mechanism after withdrawing troops from two standoff points in eastern Ladakh to prevent such incidents in future. Can go.
In response to a question in the weekly press conference, Jaiswal said that preparations for the meeting of special representatives are going on. He said, ‘We also talked about the Foreign Secretary level meeting. “After these meetings are held, we will discuss the next steps.” The MEA spokesperson said the Indian statement related to the WMCC meeting talked about the implementation of the troop withdrawal process.
“This is a process that has been completed,” he said. And now it will move towards the process of reducing tension, which has also been mentioned in the statement of the Foreign Minister (in Parliament). Responding to a question about patrolling along the Line of Actual Control, Jaiswal said the Indian side has made it clear that ‘wherever patrolling was to be done, whatever situation was to be restored, it has been done.’
The military standoff between India and China in eastern Ladakh began in May 2020 and resulted in severe tensions in relations between the two neighbors as a result of the Galwan Valley clash in June that year. The standoff ended a few weeks ago after the completion of the withdrawal of troops in Depsang and Demchok.
