India-China military talks to be held again; countries evaluate outcome of 6th round meet

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Wednesday said that India and China "positively" evaluated decisions taken at last round of military talks to defuse nearly five-month-long border standoff in eastern Ladakh and pushed for ir implementation to avoid misunderstandings and maintain stability on ground. Diplomats of two countries held ar round of virtual talks under framework of Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) on border affairs.

MEA also said that it was agreed that next round of meetings of senior army commanders should be held at an early date so that both sides can work towards an early and complete disengment of troops along Line of Actual Control (LAC) in accordance with existing bilateral agreement and protocols, and fully restore peace and tranquillity. MEA added that two sides ted that agreement reached between foreign ministers of two countries should be "sincerely implemented" to ensure disengment at all friction points along LAC. MEA said two sides reviewed current situation along LAC and had "frank and detailed" discussions on developments since last meeting of WMCC on August 20.

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military talks were held with a specific nda of drawing a roadmap to implement five-point agreement reached between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi at a meeting in Moscow on September 10 on sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation(SCO) meet.

" two sides attached importance to meetings between two defence ministers and two foreign ministers held earlier this month. y also ted that agreement between two Foreign Ministers should be sincerely implemented to ensure disengment at all friction points along LAC," MEA said. defence ministers of two countries too met on sidelines of ar SCO event in Moscow on September 4.

READ | Security scenario in eastern Ladakh at uneasy ' war peace' status: IAF chief

Defence Minister briefs Parliament on LAC standoff

During monsoon session, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh made a statement on LAC situation in both Houses of Parliament. He affirmed that Armed Forces were capable of facing any challenge from China. While ackwledging that situation at LAC is very different both in terms of scale of troops involve and number of friction points, he reiterated India's commitment for a peaceful resolution of dispute. Observing that violent conduct of Chinese troops was a violation of all past agreements, he informed MPs that India has done counter deployments in area to safeguard border. 

(PTI inputs)

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