National Security Advisor Ajit Doval had a telephonic conversation with Chinese State Councillor and Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi on Sunday. The two Special Representatives had a frank and in-depth exchange of views on the recent developments in the Western Sector of the India-China border areas, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.
According to the sources, China on Monday has started to pull back its troops from Ladakh’s Galwan valley, where 20 Indian soldiers were killed in violent face-off with Chinese troops on June 15.
Indian soldiers have also started pulling back, sources added.
“The two Special Representatives agreed that both sides should take guidance from the consensus of the leaders that maintenance of peace and tranquillity in the India-China border areas was essential for the further development of our bilateral relations and that two sides should not allow differences to become disputes,” MEA said.
“Therefore, they agreed that it was necessary to ensure at the earliest complete disengagement of the troops along the LAC and de-escalation from India-China border areas for full restoration of peace and tranquility. In this regard they further agreed that both sides should complete the ongoing disengagement process along the LAC expeditiously. The two sides should also ensure a phased and stepwise de-escalation in the India-China border areas. They re-affirmed that both sides should strictly respect and observe the line of actual control and should not take any unilateral action to alter the status quo and work together to avoid any incident in the future that could disturb peace and tranquillity in border areas.,” it said.
“The two Special Representatives agreed that the diplomatic and military officials of the two sides should continue their discussions, including under the framework of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China border affairs (WMCC), and implement the understandings reached in a timely manner to achieve the above outcomes. It was also agreed that the two Special Representatives will continue their conversations to ensure full and enduring restoration of peace and tranquillity in the India-China border areas in accordance with the bilateral agreements and protocols,” it added.
