Eastern Ladakh stand-off: India, China to soon have next round of Military talks on remaining issues along LAC

NEW DELHI: On Tuesday, India and China held diplomatic talks on the border standoff in eastern Ladakh for the first time in six months, agreeing to continue discussions through diplomatic and military channels to resolve the remaining issues along the LAC as soon as possible in order to restore normalcy in bilateral relations.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) asserted that the Indian side was led by the Additional Secretary (East Asia) at the 24th meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC).

The Chinese delegation was led by the Director-General of the Chinese Foreign Ministry's Boundary and Oceanic Department.

According to the MEA, "the two sides reviewed the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Western Sector of the India-China border areas." "Since the last meeting in November 2021, both sides have held the 14th and 15th Senior Commanders meetings in January and March 2022, respectively."

Wang Yi, China's foreign minister, visited India in March 2022 and met with the External Affairs Minister and the National Security Adviser, according to the report.

"The two sides exchanged views on the current situation along the LAC in Eastern Ladakh's Western Sector," the statement said. "They agreed that, as instructed by the two Foreign Ministers, both sides should continue to discuss remaining issues along the LAC through diplomatic and military channels in order to restore normalcy in bilateral relations."

According to the MEA, the next round of Senior Commanders' meetings will be held as soon as possible in order to achieve the goal of complete disengagement from all friction points along the LAC in the western sector, in accordance with existing bilateral agreements and protocols.