AGENCIES/ NEW DELHI
India has said that the way ahead on India and China border standoff is to refrain from making any attempts to unilaterally change the status quo, while both sides continue their discussions to achieve complete disengagement in all friction areas.
Briefing media, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said the two sides have decided to have the next meeting of the Senior Commanders at the earliest.
He said the next meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination is also likely to take place soon.
The 6th meeting of the Senior Commanders of India and China took place on 21st of this month in Moldo.
The two sides decided to strengthen the ground communication to avoid any further misunderstandings and misjudgments, stop sending more troops to the frontline, refrain from unilaterally changing the situation on the ground, and avoid taking any actions that may complicate the situation.
This meeting took place in the backdrop of the meeting of the Defence Ministers of India and China in Moscow on 4th September and also the meeting of the two Foreign Ministers on 10th September.
The two Foreign Ministers had reached an agreement that the two sides should continue the dialogue and quickly and comprehensively disengage in all the friction areas.
The Senior Commanders met after a period of nearly 50 days. After the meeting, the two sides also issued a joint press release which is the first joint press release after any Senior Commander’s meeting.
Mr Srivastava said as such, it reflects the stated commitment of both sides to disengage along the LAC.
He said disengagement is a complex process that requires redeployment of troops by each side towards their regular posts on their respective sides of the LAC.
This would require mutually agreed reciprocal actions.
The spokesperson said even as two sides work towards complete disengagement in all friction areas, it is at the same time also necessary to ensure stability on the ground.