The military commanders of China and India held the 20th round of Corp Commander-level talks at the Chulshul-Moldo border meeting point on 9-10 October, a statement from Chinese Ministry of National Defense announced on Thursday.
The Chinese statement said that the two sides “agreed to maintain the momentum of communication and dialogue through military and diplomatic channels” as well as resolve the remaining issues at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in a “mutually acceptable manner” at the earliest date.
The two military delegations exchanged views in a “candid, open and forward-looking manner” in line with the “guidance provided by the leadership” of both the countries, according to the statement.
Importantly, the statement also underscored that both the militaries would maintain “peace and tranquillity” on the ground till the border standoff got resolved.
An Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) statement on the military-level talks said that the two sides exchanged views in a “frank, open and constructive manner”.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping have met twice since the Ladakh standoff erupted in April-May 2020. Last November, the two leaders held a brief conversation on the margins of the G-20 Summit in Bali.
China has said that they reached a “strategic judgment” that New Delhi and Beijing didn’t “pose a threat to each other”.
The two leaders also met on the margins of the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg in August, where they agreed to “intensify efforts” to de-escalate the border situation, according to Indian foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra.
Current Status of Sino-India Standoff
Thousands of troops from both the countries are currently embroiled in a standoff in Demchok and Depsang Plain sectors of the LAC, Indian defense ministry officials have been quoting as saying in Indian media.
Reports state that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has been blocking access to Indian military patrols at five points which India used to patrol before April-May 2020, though New Delhi is officially yet to verify these claims.
In the previous 19 rounds of military commander-level talks, Indian Army and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) have disengaged troops from north and south banks of Pangong Tso Lake and the Gogra-Hot Springs area.
New Delhi has consistently told Beijing that resolution of the border dispute was critical for the stability of overall bilateral relations.