India, China agree to 'sincerely' deescalate at LAC

Tribune News Service
New Delhi, June 24

Indian and Chinese diplomats on Wednesday agreed to sincerely implement the understanding on disengagement and de-escalation that was reached by senior military commanders on June 6 and June 22 but official statements from Beijing continued to blame India for the June 15 clash in Galwan Valley.

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• India, China agree to 'sincerely' deescalate at LAC
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• China again blames India for violent face-off in Eastern Ladakh

Interacting through video conferencing, the 15th meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) saw India convey its concerns on the recent developments in eastern Ladakh, including on the violent faceoff in Galwan Valley area on June 15.

It was emphasised that both sides should strictly respect and observe the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

Taking place after a gap of almost a year, the meeting recalled the conversation last week between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi which agreed to implement the June 6 understanding expeditiously.

The early lowering of tensions would enable the development of a broader relationship between the two countries.

In this context, they also took note of the discussions in the second meeting of the senior commanders held on June 22.

The two sides also agreed to maintain communication both at diplomatic and military level including under the framework of WMCC to resolve the existing situation peacefully.

Meanwhile in Beijing, spokespersons of the foreign affairs and defence ministries again injected a note of rancour by blaming India for the June 15 clash.

The defence ministry, in particular, gave a graphic account of events that led to the clash.

Asked why he was treading old ground when ice-breaking conversations have been held subsequently, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said he wanted to clarify the situation “because the MEA in India and also Indian media have made some false reports”.

There has been no reaction from the MEA to this allegation so far.

However, both spokespersons later in their statements wound down the aggression and hoped the situation will cool down as soon as possible.

Defence ministry spokesperson Wu Qian termed China and India as “important neighbours to each other” and wanted both sides to make great efforts to jointly ease the current border situation.

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