India, China Agree to Resolve Border Dispute ‘Peacefully’: Statement

India, China Agree to Resolve Border Dispute ‘Peacefully’: Statement
The Pangong Lake in Leh district of Union terrritory of Ladakh bordering India and China, on Sept. 14, 2018. (Prakash Singh/AFP via Getty Images)
Reuters
6/7/2020
Updated:
6/10/2020

NEW DELHI—India and China agreed on June 5 to resolve a dispute over their shared border in the Ladakh region through diplomatic channels, the Indian foreign affairs ministry said in a statement.

The statement came a day before the top generals of the two countries were due to meet near the site of their border standoff to try and find a way to de-escalate the situation.

Indian officials said both sides would first focus on getting both the Indian Army and the People’s Liberation Army to pull back additional troops and equipment deployed in the area.

Soldiers from both sides have been camped out in the Galwan Valley in the high-altitude Ladakh region, accusing each other of trespassing over the disputed border, the trigger of a brief but bloody war in 1962.

Senior officials of the two countries held a video conference and agreed that “the two sides should handle their differences through peaceful discussion” and should not allow them to become disputes, the foreign affairs ministry statement said.

Both sides recalled the consensus reached by their two leaders that peaceful, stable, and balanced relations between India and China would be positive for stability in the current global situation, the Indian statement said.

By Sanjeev Miglani