India-China: A violent face-off between Indian and Chinese soldiers happened at Galwan in June

New Delhi:

China has said differences with India on the border issue along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh need to be sorted out peacefully. The statement by China’s Defence Ministry spokesperson Colonel Wu Qian comes after Foreign Minister S Jaishankar in an interview to the website Rediff said the stand-off along the Line of Actual Control or LAC this year is “the most serious situation after 1962”, when India and China fought a war.

“Bearing in mind the big picture of bilateral ties and putting the border issue in an appropriate position in this big picture, India and China need to avoid misjudgement, keep divergences from escalating into disputes, and take concrete steps to bring bilateral relations back to the right track of normal development,” Wu said in a statement.

India and China have had several rounds of military and diplomatic meetings, with only limited disengagement having taken place in parts of eastern Ladakh after a violent standoff in June.

Twenty soldiers died for India and some 40 Chinese soldiers were killed or injured in the clash that broke out on June 15 at Galwan valley in eastern Ladakh.

The External Affairs Ministry today said “complete disengagement requires redeployment of troops by each side towards their regular posts on their respective sides of the LAC”.

“It is natural that this can be done only through mutually agreed reciprocal actions. Thus, it is important to bear in mind that achieving this requires agreed actions by both sides,” the External Affairs Ministry spokesperson said.

India and China have not been able to agree on their 3,488-km-long border that runs from the snow deserts of Ladakh in the western sector to thick forest and mountains in the east, despite several rounds of talks over the years.

“This is surely the most serious situation after 1962. In fact, after 45 years, we have had military casualties on this border. The quantum of forces currently deployed by both sides at the LAC is also unprecedented,” Mr Jaishankar told Rediff.

The Foreign Minister said that India has conveyed to China clearly that peace and tranquillity in border areas are the basis for the relationship between the two neighbours.

“If we look back at the last three decades, this is quite self-evident. Indian and Chinese armies are locked in a tense stand-off in eastern Ladakh for over three-and-half-month despite multiple rounds of diplomatic and military talks,” Mr Jaishankar said.

Days after the violent standoff in June, India had said “making exaggerated and untenable claims” on areas along the LAC is against the understanding that military commanders of India and China had reached during several rounds of meetings.