Politics

India, China continue military dialog to reduce border tensions

New Delhi, Jul 1 (efe-epa).- Senior army officials from India and China held another meeting to reduce tensions that escalated after a border confrontation between their forces last month that left at least 20 Indian soldiers dead and 76 wounded, military sources in New Delhi said on Wednesday.

“Commanders from PLA & Indian Army side held a meeting at Chushul, on Indian side, for another round of talks on 30 June 2020,” said the sources.

This was the third round of senior-level military talks, according to the source, in Ladakh, the same Himalayan region along the India-China border that on June 15 witnessed the worst clash between the two Asian nations in 45 years.

Both sides agreed that the “the need for an expeditious, phased and step wise deescalation was a priority” along the Line of Actual Control, or LAC, the de-facto border between the two countries.

“More meetings are expected both at the military and at the diplomatic level, in future, to arrive at mutually agreeable solution and to ensure peace and tranquility along the LAC as per bilateral agreements and protocols,” added the source.

This new efforts to reduce tension come after a series of accusations and counter-accusations between New Delhi and Beijing about who provoked the confrontation on the border area on Galwan Valley in Ladakh, which followed another clash – without casualties – in May in another area of the nearly 4,000 kilometers long border.

India has accused its neighbor of sending large number of troops and erecting structures in the area, while China has accused Indian troops of provoking their soldiers.

Apart from military and diplomatic talks, the meeting between the army officials came a day after India announced blocking 59 mostly Chinese mobile applications, including TikTok,on the grounds that they were detrimental to the country’s security.

India has witnessed mounting public anger towards the neighboring country, with several traders’ and civil organizations issuing calls to boycott Chinese products and applications in recent days. EFE-EPA

daa/sc/ia

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