India and China To Hold New Dialogue on Border Issue

Officials from both nations held virtually the 21st Meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on Border Issues, The Hindu newspaper reported.

Talks between senior Foreign Ministry officials, along with parallel military-level dialogues between corps commanders, constitute the two key channels for moving the process forward, the source added.

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Friday's meeting of the mechanism is the seventh meeting held since the June 15 clash between the two countries' troops in the Galwan Valley.

The sides reviewed the situation along the dividing line and held in-depth discussions on the remaining issues, said a Foreign Ministry statement.

Both countries agreed that the completion of the separation of respective troops on the north and south shores of Pangong Lake provided a good basis for working toward an early resolution of the remaining issues.

The eleventh round of the corps commanders' talks will be held as soon as possible to further ease the situation on the ground and safeguard the hard-won peace and stability in the border areas, the statement said.

At the 10th round, held on Feb. 20, both commanders noted that the withdrawal from the Pangong Lake area was an important step and provided a good basis for resolving other outstanding issues on the border.

Since the meeting, there has been no official word on the progress of the withdrawal in the Gogra-Hot Springs area and Demchok. There are also tensions related to the blockade of patrols in the Depsang plains.

The Foreign Ministry said that both sides agreed to continue dialogue to reach a mutually acceptable solution for complete withdrawal from all sticking points as soon as possible.

The above would allow consideration of a broader de-escalation of troops and work towards restoring peace and tranquility in the border areas.

The parties agreed to maintain stability on the ground and avoid any unbecoming incidents, stabilize and control the border situation and prevent a relapse—referring to last year's tensions.