India, China to work with ‘urgency’, redouble efforts to realise complete disengagement

New Delhi: During talks in St Petersburg, Russia, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi committed to intensify their efforts to achieve full disengagement in the remaining contentious areas of eastern Ladakh. The meeting focused on finding a swift resolution to the ongoing border dispute.

The Ministry of External Affairs reported that Doval emphasised to Wang the importance of maintaining peace and respecting the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in border regions. He stressed that these factors are crucial for normalising relations between the two countries. The Doval-Wang meeting took place in the Russian city on the sidelines of a conclave of national security advisors of the BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) nations.

The MEA said the meeting between Doval and Wang provided an opportunity to review the recent efforts towards finding an early resolution of the outstanding issues.

“The meeting gave the two sides an opportunity to review the recent efforts towards finding an early resolution of the remaining issues along the Line of Actual Control, which will create conditions to stabilise and rebuild bilateral relations,” the MEA said.

“Both sides agreed to work with urgency and redouble their efforts to realise complete disengagement in the remaining areas,” it said in a statement.

“The NSA conveyed that peace and tranquillity in border areas and respect for LAC are essential for normalcy in bilateral relations,” the MEA said.

“Both sides must fully abide by relevant bilateral agreements, protocols, and understandings reached in the past by the two governments,” it said.

The MEA said the two sides agreed that the India-China bilateral relationship is significant not just for the two countries but also for the region and the world.

“The two sides also exchanged views on the global and regional situation,” it said. The Doval-Wang meeting came two weeks after India and China held diplomatic talks during which they agreed to intensify contacts through diplomatic and military channels to find a resolution to the outstanding issues.

The Indian and Chinese militaries have been locked in a standoff since May 2020 and a full resolution of the border row has not yet been achieved though the two sides have disengaged from a number of friction points.

The ties between the two countries nosedived significantly following the fierce clash in the Galwan Valley in June 2020 that marked the most serious military conflict between the two sides in decades. India has been maintaining that its ties with China cannot be normal unless there is peace in the border areas. The two sides have so far held 21 rounds of Corps Commander-level talks to resolve the standoff.