South Africa: India and China have agreed to de-escalate tensions over their disputed border and bring back thousands of their troops deployed there. According to a statement from a senior Indian official, Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi and President Mr. Xi Jinping spoke on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in South Africa.
Beijing stated the meeting was held at Mr. Modi’s request. Indian Foreign Secretary Mr. Vinay Kwatra stated that both sides had agreed to step up efforts for the disengagement of troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
“The Prime Minister underlined that maintenance of peace and tranquilly in the border areas and observing and respecting the LAC are essential for the normalisation of the India-China relationship,” Mr. Kwatra remarked. “In this regard, the two leaders agreed to direct their relevant officials to intensify efforts at expeditious disengagement and de-escalation,” the Foreign Secretary added.
China’s Foreign Ministry commented in a statement that the two leaders had “a candid and in-depth exchange of views on current China-India relations and other questions of shared interest.” The Ministry noted that “Mr. Xi stressed that improving China-India relations serves the common interests of the two countries and peoples and is also conducive to peace, stability, and development in the world and the region.”
“The two sides should bear in mind the overall interests of their bilateral relations and handle properly the border issue so as to jointly safeguard peace and tranquilly in the border region,” the statement further added.
Relations between India and China have been worsening for more than three years. The two world powers are facing off against each other along their ill-defined 3,440-kilometre-long border in the Himalayan region.
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