India stresses on mutually agreed reciprocal actions to cool Ladakh tensions
Sixth meeting gave Senior Commanders an opportunity to have in-depth exchanges of views on stabilizing the situation along LAC: MEA
New Delhi: India on Thursday said that disengagement at the LAC is a complex process that not only requires redeployment of troops by each side towards their regular posts but also needs mutually agreed reciprocal actions.
Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said that while the two sides work towards complete disengagement in all friction areas, it is also necessary to ensure stability on the ground and the latest Senior Commander’s meeting should be seen in all this overall context.
“The way ahead will be to refrain from making any attempts to unilaterally change the status quo, while the two sides continue their discussions to achieve complete disengagement in all friction areas and to ensure full restoration of peace and tranquility in the border areas,” Srivastava said with regard to the Senior Commanders meeting of India and China at Moldo on Tuesday, that took place nearly 50 days after their last meeting.
“In this regard, the two sides have also decided to have the next meeting of the Senior Commanders at the earliest. In parallel, the next meeting of the WMCC (Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination) is also likely to take place soon,” he added.
“I would like to highlight that this is the first joint press release after any Senior Commander’s meeting. As such, it reflects the stated commitment of both sides to disengage along the LAC. As we have pointed out earlier, disengagement is a complex process that requires redeployment of troops by each side towards their regular posts on their respective sides of the LAC. This would require mutually agreed reciprocal actions,” he said while underlining that the Foreign Ministers of India and China had reached an agreement during their meeting in Moscow that the two sides should continue the dialogue and quickly and comprehensively disengage in all the friction areas.
Srivastava said the sixth meeting gave the Senior Commanders an opportunity to have candid and in-depth exchanges of views on stabilizing the situation along the LAC.
The two sides have also decided to strengthen the ground communication to avoid any further misunderstandings and misjudgments, stop sending more troops to the frontline, refrain from unilaterally changing the situation on the ground, and avoid taking any actions that may complicate the situation, India and China said in their statements on Wednesday after the talks.
On Thursday, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, while speaking at an event, said the that the situation at LAC is unprecedented and it is one facet of a larger phenomenon for which both countries have to sit down and find a solution.