LAC row: India expects China to work sincerely for achieving complete disengagement

New Delhi: India on Friday said it expects China to "sincerely" work with it towards the objective of achieving "complete disengagement" and de-escalation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and linked future of bilateral ties to the state of their border.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said that "full restoration" of peace and tranquility in the border areas as agreed to by the two sides is essential in the context of the overall development of the bilateral relationship.

"As the external affairs minister (S Jaishankar) had noted in a recent interview 'the state of the border and the future of our ties, cannot be separated'," Srivastava said at an online media briefing.

India and China held several rounds of diplomatic and military talks in the last few weeks for the disengagement of troops in the eastern Ladakh region. However, the process has not moved forward as expected by India.

"While we would like the ongoing disengagement process to be completed at the earliest, it is important to bear in mind that achieving this requires agreed actions by both sides," Srivastava said.

"We, therefore, expect that the Chinese side to sincerely work with us towards the objective of complete disengagement and de-escalation and full restoration of peace and tranquility in the border areas as agreed by the Special Representatives," he added.

Srivastava was referring to decisions taken by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on complete disengagement of troops along the LAC during their telephonic talks on July 5.

Doval and Wang are Special Representatives for boundary talks.

The formal process of disengagement of troops began on July 6, a day after the Doval-Wang talks. The MEA spokesperson said both sides have agreement on broad principles of disengagement and based on it, some progress had been earlier made.

India has been insisting that China must withdraw its forces from areas between Finger Four and Eight. The mountain spurs in the area are referred to as Fingers.

Referring to military and diplomatic talks, Srivastava said further meetings are likely to take place in the near future.

with agency inputs