On Friday, the Foreign Ministries of India and China held talks and arrived at a consensus that differences should be handled peacefully and not escalate into disputes. This is the highest level of diplomatic engagement to happen since tensions along the Line of Actual Control erupted in May.
India’s External Affairs Ministry in its statement said that both sides agreed to handle their differences through peaceful discussion bearing in mind the importance of respecting each other’s sensitivities, concerns and aspirations and not allow them to become disputes.
The MEA said that both the countries reviewed the state of bilateral relations including the “current development”.
Joint Secretary (East Asia) in the Ministry of External Affairs Naveen Srivastava and Director General of the Asia Department at the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Wu Jianghao held a video conference on Friday. The MEA on its side noted that the “consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries that peaceful, stable and balanced relations between India and China will be a positive factor for stability in the current global sitation”. The statement issued by China’s MFA said that both the countries agreed to “implement the consensus that the two countries do not constitute a threat to each other and do not let differences rise to disputes. It added that both the sides discussed initiatives to mark the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations. It also said that the two countries should oppose politicising the epidemic situation and support the WHO. However, this was not mentioned in the MEA’s statement.
Talks are scheduled to happen between the two Lieutenant Generals on Saturday.