India and China to resolve border skirmish ‘peacefully’
INDIA and China agreed to “peacefully resolve” a latest border flare-up that heightened tensions between the neighbours, New Delhi said last Sunday (7), after a meeting between their army commanders.
Thousands of troops from both countries are involved in the faceoff concentrated in India’s Ladakh, just opposite Tibet.
Soldiers from both sides have been camped out in the Galwan Valley in the high-altitude region, accusing each other of trespassing over the disputed border, the trigger of a brief but bloody war in 1962. “Both sides agreed to peacefully resolve the situation in the border areas in accordance with various bilateral agreements,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
The ministry added that the commanders agreed an “early resolution” was “essential” for bilateral relations between the world’s two most-populous nations. “Accordingly, the two sides will continue the military and diplomatic engagements to resolve the situation and to ensure peace and tranquility in the border areas,” the statement said.
In Beijing, Geng Shuang, a spokesman of China’s foreign affairs ministry, told reporters that the overall situation in the ChinaIndia border areas was currently “stable and controllable.”
While maintaining close communication through diplomatic and military channels, both sides are working to “properly resolve relevant issues,” the spokesman said, according to the statement posted on China’s foreign affairs ministry website.
There have been numerous face-offs and brawls between Chinese and Indian soldiers at the frontier, but they have become more frequent in recent years. On May 9, several Indian and Chinese soldiers were injured in a high-altitude crossborder clash involving fists and stone-throwing in Sikkim state.
Indian officials said within days, Chinese troops encroached over the demarcation line in the Ladakh region, further to the west. India moved extra troops to positions opposite.