India, China to maintain close contact, speed up resolution of Ladakh standoff

India and China have agreed to maintain close contact and speed up the resolution of “relevant issues” in connection with the eastern Ladakh standoff. Top military officials of both the countries conducted the 18th round of China-India Corps Commander Level Meeting at the Chushul-Moldo border meeting point on the Chinese side on April 23.

The talks were held ahead of Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu’s planned visit to India on April 27-28 to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting.

The Ministry of External Affairs said that there was a “frank and in-depth” discussion on the relevant issues along the Line of Actual Control in the Western sector. "The two sides agreed to stay in close contact and maintain dialogue through military and diplomatic channels and work out a mutually acceptable resolution of the remaining issues at the earliest," the MEA said.

"In line with the guidance provided by the state leaders and further to the meeting between the two foreign ministers in March 2023, they had an exchange of views in an open and candid manner," it said. The MEA further added, "In the interim, the two sides agreed to maintain the security and stability on the ground in the Western Sector.”

The government refers to eastern Ladakh as the Western sector.

The Indian side reportedly insisted on the resolution of the issues at the friction points of Demchok and Depsang in eastern Ladakh as soon as possible.

China’s People’s Liberation Army issued a statement where it said that the two sides had a friendly and candid exchange of views on relevant issues. It said that both sides agreed to “maintain close contact and dialogue through military and diplomatic channels, speed up the settlement of relevant issues on the western section of the China-India boundary, and continue to safeguard the peace and tranquility in the border areas”.

The Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson told the media in Beijing on Monday that “the two sides held an in-depth exchange of views on expediting the resolution of relevant issues”.

Sunday's military talks came around four months after the last round of the dialogue between the senior Army commanders of the two sides. Ties between the two countries nosedived significantly following a fierce clash in the Galwan Valley in June 2020 that marked the most serious military conflict between the two sides in decades.