Some good news.
India and China agree to work urgently to achieve the withdrawal of troops on their disputed border
NEW DELHI (AP) — India and China have agreed to work urgently to achieve the withdrawal of tens of thousands of troops stationed along their disputed border in a long-running standoff, India’s government said.
Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar met his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, on Thursday on the sidelines of Association of Southeast Asian Nations meetings in Laos, where they stressed the need for an early resolution of outstanding issues along the disputed , the long Himalayan border shared by the two Asian giants.
The line separates Chinese and Indian-held territories from Ladakh in the west to India’s eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims in its entirety.
Ties between the two countries deteriorated in July 2020 after killed at least 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese. It turned into a long-running standoff in the rugged mountainous area, where each side has stationed tens of thousands of military personnel backed by artillery, tanks and fighter jets.
Both India and China have withdrawn troops from some areas on the northern and southern banks of Pangong Tso, Gogra and Galwan Valley, but continue to maintain extra troops as part of a multitier deployment.
This is not long after the Foreign Ministers met:
Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said that India and China are two countries with the largest populations, and two major emerging economies and ancient civilizations with long histories. Maintaining stable and predictable development of the bilateral relations is entirely in the interests of the two sides, and holds special significance to upholding regional peace and promoting multi-polarity. India and China have broad converging interests and face the shadow brought by the situation in the border areas. But the Indian side is ready to take a historic, strategic and open perspective to find solutions to the differences and get the bilateral relations back to a positive and constructive track.
The two sides agreed to make concerted efforts to maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas, and work for new progress in consultations on border affairs.
The two sides indicated their readiness to strengthen communication within the framework of East Asia cooperation platform, SCO, G20 and BRICS, and jointly practise multilateralism and uphold the legitimate rights and interests of developing countries
