New Delhi: In a swift response to defuse a dangerously escalating situation sparked off by troops’ fracas on Tuesday, a meeting was held on Wednesday between officials of the Indian and Chinese armies at Chushul in Ladakh.
“The meeting, besides discussing normal issues, also took up Tuesday’s incident and agreed to strengthen the existing mechanism to maintain peace and tranquillity in the region and also to take steps so that incidents like Tuesday’s do not get repeated,” an official source said, while adding that the meeting was “pre-scheduled”.
While a brigadier led the Indian Army delegation, a senior Colonel led the Chinese side for the meeting that began at about 4 pm on Wednesday.
The meeting took place a day after an incident of fisticuffs and stone pelting was reported between Indian and Chinese troops on the northern bank of Pangong Tsa lake, in which two soldiers each from both sides were injured. Asked about the incident, defence minister Arun Jaitley told reporters: “This is not a subject on which the government makes a comment on.”
Meanwhile, in Beijing, foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said she was not aware of the meeting.
