New Delhi: A day after both sides exchanged verbal salvos over the Line of Actual Control, Indian and Chinese officials sat down for another meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation & Coordination on India-China Border Affairs during the current stand-off – and agreed to strengthen ground communication between frontline commanders.
The WMCC was convened on Wednesday for the fifth time since the military stand-off began in May, but is the 19th edition of this institutional mechanism since it was constituted.
According to the Indian read-out of the meeting that was held through video conference, both sides “positively evaluated” the results of the senior commanders’ meeting on September 21.
“They emphasised the need to implement the steps outlined in the joint press release issued after the last meeting of the senior commanders so as to avoid misunderstandings and to maintain stability on the ground. In this context, the need to strengthen communication, especially between the ground commanders, was emphasised by both sides,” said the MEA press note.
As per the joint press release issued after the senior commanders’ meeting, the two countries had agreed to implement the consensus reached by leadership, strengthen communication on the ground, avoid misunderstandings and misjudgments, stop sending additional troops to the frontline, refrain from unilaterally changing the ground situation and avoid taking any actions that may complicate the situation.
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The separate statements from Chinese and Indian foreign ministries also said that the next round of senior commanders’ meetings should be held at an early date.
“…[T]hey [China] agreed that the next [7th] round of the meeting of Senior Commanders should be held at an early date so that both sides can work towards early and complete disengagement of the troops along the LAC in accordance with the existing bilateral agreement and protocols, and fully restore peace and tranquility,” said the MEA statement.
The Chinese read-out stated that the two sides exchanged “candid and in-depth views” and agreed to implement the five point consensus reached by the foreign ministers in Moscow. It added that the neighbours should “take practical measures to promote further de-escalation and cooling of the border situation and avoid any action that could complicate the situation”.
“The two sides positively evaluated the results of the sixth round of military-level talks and agreed to continue to maintain dialogue and consultation through diplomatic and military channels, hold the seventh round of military-level talks at an early stage, urgently handle the remaining issues on the ground and jointly safeguard peace and tranquillity in the border areas,” said the Chinese language statement issued by the foreign ministry in Beijing, as per a rough translation.
On Tuesday, Chinese foreign ministry had asserted that the Line of Actual Control was based on the letter sent by then Premier Zhou Enlai on November 7, 1959.
India had responded that New Delhi had never accepted the 1959 LAC, with even China accepting in various border agreements that the boundary had been clarified and confirmed through exchange of maps.