Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, speaking on the sidelines at the Brics summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, agreed on Thursday to seek a speedy resolution to a three-year stand-off along the Himalayan border area between the two countries.
Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra told a news briefing on Thursday that Modi had spoken to Xi and highlighted India’s concerns about the unresolved issues along the “Line of Actual Control” (LAC) – the effective Sino-India border.
“The prime minister underlined that the maintenance of peace and tranquillity in the border areas and observing and respecting the LAC are essential for the normalisation of the India-China relationship,” Kwatra said.
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The two leaders, he continued, had “agreed to direct the relevant officials to intensify efforts at expeditious disengagement and de-escalation”.
The Chinese foreign ministry described the “exchange of views” as “candid and in-depth”, adding that Xi stressed that improving China-India relations served the interests of the two countries and was “conducive to peace, stability and development of 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 tranquility in the border region,” the statement read.
India and China have continued to deploy a significant number of troops and advanced weaponry since a 2020 clash in the Galwan Valley along the LAC killed at least 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers. It was the deadliest border encounter between the two countries in decades.
This month, a 19th round of military-level talks failed to yield any breakthrough on the border deadlock, though both sides agreed to keep talking.
A joint statement released after the Modi-Xi meeting described the discussion as “positive, constructive and in-depth”.
The statement added that India and China had “agreed to maintain the momentum of dialogue and negotiations through military and diplomatic channels”.
Since the fatal skirmishes of 2020, Modi and Xi have largely avoided direct contact, but the two exchanged pleasantries on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Bali in November 2022.
The Indian foreign ministry disclosed earlier this month that the two leaders had also discussed the need to “stabilise” bilateral ties.
Xi is also expected to visit New Delhi for the September 9-10 G20 summit sessions. A bilateral meeting has not been ruled out.
More from South China Morning Post:
- China, India hold new round of border talks days before Xi, Modi head for Brics summit
- China-India border dispute: rare 2-day talks fail to resolve deadlock ahead of Xi-Modi Brics meeting
- Brics members give support to expanding the bloc to face ‘turbulent times’ as China’s Xi Jinping hails ‘growing enthusiasm’
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