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New Delhi, Beijing agree to cool down tension on LAC

PM Modi and Xi Jinping's informal summit ends Trade and Terrorism discussed

INDIA and China have agreed to cool down tensions following violent clashes on LAC in East Ladakh for several hours on Monday night. While India has lost as many as  20  brave hearts,45 PLA personnel including the commanding Officer have reportedly died. The agreement to maintain peace and tranquillity in the border area has been reached during telephonic talks between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his  Indian counterpart   S Jaishankar. They have agreed to “cool down” tensions on the ground “as soon as possible” and maintain peace and tranquillity in the border area in accordance with the agreement reached between the two countries, an official statement issued in Beijing said. Monday’s face-off was the biggest confrontation between the two militaries after their 1967 clashes in Nathu La when India lost around 80 soldiers while over 300 Chinese army personnel were killed in the face-off. The Indian Army is fiercely objecting to the transgressions by China and demanded their immediate withdrawal for the restoration of peace and tranquillity in the area. The India-China border dispute is about 3,488-km-long Line of Actual Control (LAC). China claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of southern Tibet, while India contests it. During the telephonic conversation, Jaishankar conveyed to Wang India’s protest in the strongest terms on the violent face-off and said the unprecedented development will have a “serious impact” on bilateral ties. He asked the Chinese side to reassess its actions and take corrective steps, the Ministry for  External Affairs said in a statement in New Delhi. “The Chinese side took pre-meditated and planned action that was directly responsible for the resulting violence and casualties. It reflected an intent to change the facts on the ground in violation of all our agreements to not change the status quo,” Jaishankar told Wang. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the two sides agreed to deal “fairly” with the serious events caused by the conflict in the Galwan Valley, jointly abide by the consensus reached at the military-level meetings between the two sides, “cool down the situation on the ground as soon as possible”, and maintain peace and tranquillity in the border area in accordance with the agreement reached so far between the two countries. During the conversation, Wang said the two sides should follow the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries and strengthen the communication and coordination on the proper handling of the border situation through the existing channels so as to jointly maintain peace and tranquillity in the border area, according to the statement. India’s Ministry for  External Affairs said both sides suffered casualties that could have been avoided had the agreement arrived earlier at the higher level been scrupulously followed by the Chinese side. Wang emphasized that both China and India are emerging powers with a population of over one billion people, and accelerating “our own development and revitalisation is our respective historical missions”. For this reason, mutual respect and mutual support is the right direction for the two sides, which is in the long-term interests of the two countries; “mutual suspicion and mutual friction are evil paths, and contrary to the fundamental aspirations of the two peoples,” he said. The Chinese foreign minister also alleged that on the evening of June 15, the Indian front-line frontier troops “blatantly broke the consensus” reached the military-level meeting. India has rubbished the accusation. (edited by PK Chakravarty with courtesy to Jagran Josh for the picture).

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