The Chinese Defence Ministry on Thursday said that China and India are implementing the agreement to end the standoff at eastern Ladakh in a comprehensive and effective manner, adding that ‘steady progress’ has been made. Answering a a question on the December 18 Special Representatives talks, Chinese Defence Spokesperson Senior Colonel Zhang Xiaogang said, “At present, the Chinese and Indian militaries are comprehensively and effectively implementing the border-related solutions reached between the two sides, and steady progress has been made.”
He added that both India and China have ensured close communication on the border situation via military and diplomatic channels on the basis of the consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries. He added that talks have achieved great progress.
After the October 21 agreement between India and China, Special Representatives for border question NSA Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met in Beijing and held a comprehensive dialogue on the implementation of the agreement and restoration of the relations which were frozen since the standoff began in April 2020.
In October, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in Kazan, Russia, on the sidelines of the BRICS summit and approved the Oct 21 agreement.
Col Zhang said that bringing China-India relations back on the right track serves the fundamental interests of the two countries and the two peoples.
“The Chinese military is ready to make concerted efforts with the Indian side to faithfully implement the important consensus of the two leaders, conduct more exchanges and interactions, and promote China-India mil-to-mil relationship, in a bid to jointly safeguard lasting peace and tranquillity in the border areas,” he added.
The Special Representative dialogue was regarded as significant as it was the first structured engagement between the two countries after relations were frozen for over four years due to the military standoff in eastern Ladakh. After the talks between Ajit Doval and Wang Yi, China said that the readouts issued by both countries after the talks shared “very much similar gist and elements” highlighting broader consensus.
(With agency inputs)
