BEIJING (Reuters) – China will maintain communications with India through diplomatic and military channels and commit to “restoring peace and tranquility” in their disputed border area, the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement on Friday.
Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation foreign ministers’ meeting in Moscow that the “imperative is to immediately stop provocations such as firing and other dangerous actions that violate the commitments made by the two sides”.
Wang also said during the meeting that all personnel and equipment that have trespassed at the border must be moved and that frontier troops on both sides “must quickly disengage” in order to de-escalate the situation.
The meeting came after renewed tensions following a border clash earlier this week. China and India accused each other of firing in the air during a confrontation on their border in the western Himalayas, a violation of long-held protocol to use firearms on the sensitive frontier.
The Chinese ministry said in a separate statement that the two countries reached a five-point consensus including an agreement that the current border situation is not in the interest of either countries, that they should abide by existing agreements in place to ensure peace and avoid any actions that might escalate the situation.
(Reporting by Beijing newsroom; writing by Se Young Lee; Editing by Michael Perry)
