The Indian Army and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) have agreed to “maintain peace and tranquillity” at the border areas till the remaining issues in Ladakh are resolved, a joint statement after the 19th Corp Commander-level talks said on Tuesday.
In the previous 18 rounds of commander-level talks, the militaries of India and China have managed to disengage troops and de-escalate the situation at several friction points — north and south banks of Pangong Tso Lake as well as the Gogra-Hot Springs area, according to official statements.
“The two sides had a positive, constructive, and in-depth discussion on the resolution of the remaining issues along the LAC in the Western Sector. In line with the guidance provided by the leadership, they exchanged views in an open and forward-looking manner,” the joint statement said.
It said that both the militaries vowed to resolve the issue in an expeditious manner and maintain the momentum of dialogue and negotiations through military and diplomatic channels.
Recent High-Level Engagements Between India, China
The previous meeting of Indian and Chinese military commanders took place in April, which was followed by a series of high-level engagements between the two countries.
In April, Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and former Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe held talks on the border issue during their meeting on the fringes of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Defense Ministers’ meeting in New Delhi.
In May, Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar discussed the border dispute with former Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang on the margins of the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) meeting in Goa.
Last month, Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi also agreed to the need to "stabilize" the border situation as they held talks on the sidelines of the BRICS NSA-level meeting in South Africa.
Last November, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Chinese President Xi Jinping reached a “strategic judgement” that the two nations don’t pose a “threat to each other” as they met at the G-20 Summit in Bali, a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement revealed last month.