India, China agree to hold next round of military talks at the earliest

India and China on Thursday held constructive diplomatic talks on proposals to resolve the remaining issues and achieve complete disengagement in eastern Ladakh but there was no clear indications of any major breakthroughThe Ministry of External Affairs MEA said both sides decided to hold the next round of senior commanders meeting at the earliest to achieve the objective and that it was agreed on the need to ensure a stable situation on the ground and avoid any untoward incidentIt said the two sides reviewed the situation and engaged in an open constructive and indepth discussion on proposals to resolve the remaining issues and achieve complete disengagement in eastern LadakhThe virtual talks took place under the framework of Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on IndiaChina Border Affairs WMCCGourangalal Das Joint Secretary East Asia in the Ministry of External Affairs led the Indian delegation The Chinese team was headed by the directorgeneral boundary and oceanic affairs in the Chinese foreign ministryThe two sides reviewed the situation along the LAC in the Western Sector of the IndiaChina border areas and engaged in an open constructive and indepth discussion of proposals to resolve the remaining issues and achieve complete disengagement in eastern Ladakh the MEA said in a statementThey further agreed on the need to maintain peace and tranquillity along the border areas ensure a stable situation on the ground and avoid any untoward incident it saidThe two sides agreed to continue dialogue through military and diplomatic channels and hold the next round of the senior commanders meeting at the earliest in order to achieve the above objective the MEA addedIn the last round of military talks in October the Indian side strongly pressed for resolution of the lingering issues at Depsang and DemchokThe Indian and Chinese troops are locked in an over threeyear confrontation in certain friction points in eastern Ladakh even as the two sides completed disengagement from several areas following extensive diplomatic and military talksIndia has been maintaining that its ties with China cannot be normal unless there is peace in the border areasThe eastern Ladakh border standoff erupted on May 5 2020 following a violent clash in the Pangong lake areaThe ties between the two countries nosedived significantly following the fierce clash in the Galwan Valley in June 2020 that marked the most serious military conflict between the two sides in decadesAs a result of a series of military and diplomatic talks the two sides completed the disengagement process in 2021 on the north and south banks of the Pangong lake and in the Gogra areaThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever