Eastern Ladakh row: India, China agree to work with 'urgency' to realise complete disengagement

India and China on Thursday agreed to work with “urgency” and “redouble” their efforts to realise complete disengagement in remaining friction points in eastern Ladakh as NSA Ajit Doval held talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in St Petersburg with a focus on an early resolution of the lingering border standoff. Doval conveyed to Wang that peace and tranquillity in border areas and respect for the Line of Actual Control (LAC) are essential for normalcy in bilateral ties, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

The Doval-Wang meeting took place in the Russian city on the sidelines of a conclave of national security advisors of the BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) nations.

“The meeting gave the two sides an opportunity to review the recent efforts towards finding an early resolution of the remaining issues along the Line of Actual Control, which will create conditions to stabilise and rebuild bilateral relations,” the MEA said.

“Both sides agreed to work with urgency and redouble their efforts to realize complete disengagement in the remaining areas,” it said in a statement.

“The NSA conveyed that peace and tranquillity in border areas and respect for LAC are essential for normalcy in bilateral relations,” the MEA said.

“Both sides must fully abide by relevant bilateral agreements, protocols, and understandings reached in the past by the two governments,” it said. The MEA said the two sides agreed that the India-China bilateral relationship is significant not just for the two countries but also for the region and the world.

“The two sides also exchanged views on the global and regional situation,” it said.