China confirms agreement on LAC patrols, says ‘will work with India to implement solution’ | Latest news India

China said on Tuesday that progress has been made in talks with India on patrolling the Line of Actual Control (LAC), with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing saying “two sides have reached a solution on the relevant issues”.

The comments from Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian came almost 24 hours after Foreign Minister Vikram Misri announced on Monday that the two sides had reached an agreement on patrol arrangements along the disputed border, a development seen as an important step towards resolving the border impasse. LAC which is entering its fifth year.

“China and India have maintained close communication on border-related issues through diplomatic and military channels. Currently, the two sides have reached a solution on the relevant issues, which China views positively,” Lin was quoted as saying by state media.

He was responding to questions on the India-China agreement on border patrols in disputed areas.

“In the next phase, China will work with India to effectively implement the resolution plan,” Lin said.

The comments came ahead of an expected meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Brics summit in the Russian city of Kazan. The two leaders, who arrived in Kazan on Tuesday, are expected to meet on October 23, people familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity.

Announcing the agreement on patrol arrangements during a media briefing on Modi’s visit to Russia, Misri said it would lead to “withdrawal and resolution of the issues that had arisen in these areas in 2020”.

Subsequently, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said the two sides had returned to the situation that existed on the LAC in 2020 when the standoff began.

Misri also said the two sides would take the “next steps” under the agreement, which was the result of several rounds of diplomatic and military talks between the two sides. It followed a series of meetings of senior leaders from both parties in recent months – Jaishankar met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Kazakhstan on July 4 and on the sidelines of Asean-related meetings in Laos on July 25, while National Security Advisor Ajit Doval met Wang at a Brics-related meeting in St. Petersburg on September 12.

The LAC standoff began with a skirmish between Indian and Chinese troops on the banks of Pangong Lake in May 2020. A brutal clash in the Galwan Valley in June 2020 that killed 20 Indian soldiers and at least four Chinese troops — the first fatalities on the LAC. LAC in 45 years – took bilateral ties to their lowest point since the 1962 border war. The Indian side had maintained that the overall relationship could not be normalized without peace and tranquility on the border.

Earlier talks through the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) on India-China border issues, involving diplomats and senior military commanders, led to the withdrawal of frontline troops from the north and south banks of Pangong Lake, Gogra and Hot Jump. The two remaining ‘friction points’ are Depsang and Demchok, which are considered more strategic in military terms as the Chinese side has blocked Indian access to key patrol points.

The announcements from the Indian and Chinese sides did not provide details of the agreement on patrolling arrangements or the modalities for de-escalation and de-induction of troops to their positions in peacetime. Both countries have deployed around 60,000 troops each along the LAC.