India-China military talks to be held again; countries evaluate outcome of 6th round meet

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Wednesday said that India and China "positively" evaluated the decisions taken at the last round of military talks to defuse the nearly five-month-long border standoff in eastern Ladakh and pushed for their implementation to avoid misunderstandings and maintain stability on the ground. Diplomats of the two countries held another round of virtual talks under the framework of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) on border affairs.

MEA also said that it was agreed that the next round of the meetings of senior army commanders should be held at an early date so that both sides can work towards an early and complete disengagement of the troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in accordance with the existing bilateral agreement and protocols, and fully restore peace and tranquillity. The MEA added that the two sides noted that the agreement reached between foreign ministers of the two countries should be "sincerely implemented" to ensure disengagement at all the friction points along the LAC. The MEA said the two sides reviewed the current situation along the LAC and had "frank and detailed" discussions on the developments since the last meeting of the WMCC on August 20.

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The military talks were held with a specific agenda of drawing a roadmap to implement the five-point agreement reached between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi at a meeting in Moscow on September 10 on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation(SCO) meet.

"The two sides attached importance to the meetings between the two defence ministers and the two foreign ministers held earlier this month. They also noted that the agreement between the two Foreign Ministers should be sincerely implemented to ensure disengagement at all the friction points along the LAC," the MEA said. The defence ministers of the two countries too met on the sidelines of another SCO event in Moscow on September 4.

READ | Security scenario in eastern Ladakh at uneasy 'no war no peace' status: IAF chief

Defence Minister briefs Parliament on LAC standoff

During the monsoon session, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh made a statement on the LAC situation in both the Houses of Parliament. He affirmed that the Armed Forces were capable of facing any challenge from China. While acknowledging that the situation at the LAC is very different both in terms of the scale of troops involve and the number of friction points, he reiterated India's commitment for a peaceful resolution of the dispute. Observing that the violent conduct of Chinese troops was a violation of all past agreements, he informed the MPs that India has done counter deployments in the area to safeguard the border. 

(PTI inputs)

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