Eastern Ladakh row: India, China agree to hold next round of military talks soon

STATE TIMES NEWS

New Delhi: India and China on Tuesday agreed to hold the next round of the Senior Commanders’ meeting at an early date to achieve complete disengagement from all friction points in eastern Ladakh to create conditions for the restoration of normalcy in bilateral ties.
It was the only decision taken at a virtual meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) on the India-China Border Affairs as there was no concrete forward movement to resolve the over two-year-old standoff in eastern Ladakh.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the two sides reviewed the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Western Sector of India-China border areas and agreed to hold the next round of the Senior Commanders’ meeting “at an early date”.
The previous meeting under the framework of the WMCC had taken place in November while the 15th round of military dialogue was held on March 11.

“The two sides exchanged views on the current situation along the LAC in the Western Sector in Eastern Ladakh,” the MEA said.
The meeting on the lingering row on Tuesday was the first one after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited India on March 24 and 25.
“They agreed that as instructed by the two foreign ministers, both sides should continue the discussions through diplomatic and military channels to resolve the remaining issues along the LAC at the earliest so as to create conditions for the restoration of normalcy in bilateral relations,” it said.
“In this context, they agreed to hold the next (16th) round of the Senior Commanders meeting at an early date to achieve the objective of complete disengagement from all friction points along the LAC in the Western Sector in accordance with the existing bilateral agreements and protocols,” the MEA added.