India, China agree for early military talks to resolve LAC standoff

NEW DELHI: India and China on Thursday agreed to hold the next round of military talks at an early date to achieve the objective of complete disengagement in remaining friction points in eastern Ladakh.

At a virtual meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) on border affairs, the two sides had “candid and in-depth” discussions on the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh and reviewed the developments since the last military talks, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday.

“It was agreed that both sides should hold the next (14th) round of the Senior Commanders meeting at an early date to achieve the objective of complete disengagement from all the friction points along the LAC in the Western Sector in accordance with the existing bilateral agreements and protocols,” the Ministry of External Affairs said.

The eastern Ladakh is officially referred to as Western Sector. In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs said it was agreed that both sides should in the interim also continue to ensure a stable ground situation and avoid any untoward incident.

“The two sides recalled the agreement between the External Affairs Minister and the Foreign Minister of China during their meeting in September in Dushanbe that military and diplomatic officials of the two sides should continue their discussions to resolve the remaining issues along the LAC in Eastern Ladakh,” it said.

It was agreed that both sides should hold the next (14th) round of the Senior Commanders meeting at an early date to achieve the objective of complete disengagement from all the friction points MEA