Top Officials from India and China Meet at Border to Resolve Issues of Disengagement Along the Line of Actual Control

India and China recently held the 12th round of corps commander level meetings to discuss resolution of remaining areas related to disengagement along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Western Sector of border areas.

The meeting held at the Chushul-Moldo border meeting point on the Indian side and followed the meeting of Indian and Chinese foreign ministers on July 14 and the 22nd meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on China-India Border Affairs on June 25, according to a joint press release by the two countries' defense ministries.

The two countries have agreed to resolve these remaining issues of areas related to disengagement along the Line of Actual Control in the Western Sector of India-China border in an expeditious manner in accordance with the existing agreements and protocols and maintain the momentum of dialogue and negotiations.

“The two sides also agreed that in the interim they will continue their effective efforts in ensuring stability along the LAC in the Western Sector and jointly maintain peace and tranquility," the joint release said.

"While the joint release did not go into details on disengagement in places like Hot Springs and Gogra as some Indian media had previously reported, it showed that both sides maintained communication channels," Global times quoted Qian Feng, director of the research department at the National Strategy Institute at Tsinghua University.

China and India disengaged their frontline troops stationed at the southern and northern banks of the Pangong Tso in early February in accordance with a consensus reached during the ninth round of the corps commander level meeting.

A hotline was recently established between the Indian Army in Kongra La, north Sikkim, and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) at Khamba Dzong in the Tibet Autonomous Region to further the spirit of trust and cordial relations along the border. The hotline comes after the Foreign Ministers of India and China had agreed to establish a new hotline between the Foreign Ministries to ensure “timely communication” in the backdrop of the Ladakh stand-off.