After a meeting in Moscow, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi have agreed on a five-point course of action to disengage and reduce tensions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
5 Point Action Plan
- It follows the consensus between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping to not allow differences to become disputes.
- The current situation in the border areas is not in the interest of either side and therefore the border troops of both sides should continue their dialogue, quickly disengage, maintain proper distance and ease tensions.
- Abiding by the existing India-China border protocols, maintaining peace and tranquillity and avoiding escalatory action.
- Continuing the dialogue between Special Representatives National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and Mr. Wang and meetings of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on border affairs.
- Working towards new confidence-building measures (CBMs).
Other Developments
- Both sides also issued separate notes detailing their positions, indicating that several differences still remain in their agreement of the situation at the LAC.
- However, neither the joint statement, nor the respective notes issued specifically spoke of a return to the “Status quo ante” or positions prior to the stand-off in April.
- Nor do they specifically call on China to retreat from positions it has aggressed on at Pangong Tso, Depsang and other parts of the LAC.
- The meeting between the foreign ministers was facilitated and encouraged by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who hosted them at the SCO meeting.
Source: The Hindu & Economic Times
