New Delhi, Oct 29: India and China held a fresh round of high-level military talks focusing on maintaining peace and security along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh using existing mechanisms.
The Corps Commander-level meeting was held on the Moldo-Chushul border point on the Indian side of the frontier on October 25.
It was the first such interaction between the two militaries after the Special Representatives’ talks in August between National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
The talks were held in a friendly and cordial atmosphere, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.
It said the two sides noted the progress since the 22nd round of Corps Commander level meeting in October 2024 and shared the view that peace and tranquility has been maintained in the India-China border areas.
“Both sides agreed to continue to use existing mechanisms to resolve any ground issues along the border to maintain stability,” it said.
In the last few months, India and China have initiated a series of measures to normalise their relations after ending the over four-year military face-off along the LAC in eastern Ladakh October last year.
The face-off effectively ended following completion of the disengagement process from the last two friction points of Demchok and Depsang.
Following Wang’s visit to New Delhi for the Special Representatives’ talks in August 19, India and China unveiled a series of measures for a “stable, cooperative and forward-looking” relationship that included jointly maintaining peace along the frontier, reopening border trade and promoting investment flows.
“This was the first meeting of the ‘General Level Mechanism’ in the Western Sector since the 24th round of Special Representatives talks held on August 19,” the MEA said on Corps-Commander talks.
A Chinese readout on the Corps-Commander talks said the two sides engaged in active and in-depth communication on the management of the western section of the China-India border.
The two sides decided to maintain communication and dialogue as decided by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, it said.
“They agreed to continue communication and dialogue through military and diplomatic channels under the guidance of the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, and jointly safeguard peace and tranquillity in the China-India border areas,” the readout by the Chinese defence ministry said.
Though the two sides disengaged their troops from the friction points, they are yet to de-escalate the situation by pulling back the frontline forces from the border.
Each side currently has around 50,000 to 60,000 troops along the LAC in the eastern Ladakh region.
The military standoff in eastern Ladakh began in May 2020 and a deadly clash at the Galwan Valley in June that year resulted in a severe strain in ties between the two neighbours.
The decision to revive various dialogue mechanisms between India and China was taken at a meeting between Modi and Xi in the Russian city of Kazan in October last year. (PTI)
