BEIJING/NEW DELHI (CHINA/INDIA) – Beijing and New Delhi said on Friday that they have agreed to defuse the situation at their contested Himalayan frontier and take measures to restore “peace and tranquility”. This came after a high-level diplomatic meeting in Moscow between Chinese State Councillor Wang Yi and Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar.
They reached a five-point consensus, which includes disengaging troops from both sides and ease tensions, said a joint statement issued by both sides.
The consensus was reached after a confrontation in the border area of the western Himalayas earlier this week.
“The two Foreign Ministers agreed that the current situation in the border areas is not in the interest of either side. They agreed therefore that the border troops of both sides should continue their dialogue, quickly disengage, maintain proper distance and ease tensions,” mentioned the statement.
Jaishankar told Wang that the first priority was removing troops deployed from the “areas of friction” to avoid things getting worse.
During the confrontation, both sides accused each other of firing into the air, flouting a protocol not to use firearms on the frontier.
Wang told his Indian counterpart that it is “imperative to immediately stop provocations such as firing and other dangerous actions that violate the commitments made by the two sides.”
He also added that all troops and vehicles and other equipment that trespassed the border mused be moved to defuse the crisis.
