India said on Thursday that meetings will continue with China at military and diplomatic levels to resolve border issues to mutual satisfaction and hoped Beijing will sincerely follow up and ensure expeditious restoration of peace and tranquillity in border areas as per bilateral agreements.
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said during a virtual weekly briefing that India and China have been having discussions through established diplomatic and military channels to address the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in India-China border areas and said the senior commanders of two sides have met on June 6, 22 and 30.
He said diplomatic engagements were also continuing in parallel and last week on June 24 a meeting of WMCC on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) was also held.
The spokesperson said that the senior commanders meeting held on June 30 at Chushul was the third such engagement to discuss issues related to disengagement at the faceoff sites along the LAC and de-escalation from the border areas.
"Both sides have emphasised the need for an expeditious, phased and stepwise de-escalation as a priority. This is in keeping with the Agreement between External Affairs Ministers and his Chinese counterpart during their conversation on June 17 that the overall situation would be handled in a responsible manner, and that both sides would implement the disengagement understanding of June 6 sincerely," he said.
The spokesperson said that discussions in the latest meeting of the senior commanders reflected the commitment of both sides to reduce the tensions along the LAC.
"The two sides will continue their meetings both at the military and diplomatic level including under the framework of WMCC, in the future to resolve the issues to mutual satisfaction. We expect the Chinese side to sincerely follow up and ensure the expeditious restoration of peace and tranquillity in the border areas as per bilateral agreements and protocols," Srivastava said.
He was asked about talks with China to resolve the border stand-off and the possibility of another meeting of Working Mechsm for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC).
During the third commander level talks, both India and China emphasised the need for an expeditious, phased and stepwise de-escalation of tension along the Line of Actual Control "as a priority".
The border tensions between India and China escalated after 20 Indian soldiers lost their lives in a violent face-off in Galwan valley on June 15-16 after an attempt by the Chinese troops to unilaterally change the status quo during the de-escalation. Indian intercepts revealed that the Chinese side suffered 43 casualties including dead and seriously injured in the face-off.
( With inputs from ANI )