India, China agree on 5-point plan to resolve border standoff

TIL Desk/World/Moscow/ Noting that the current situation at their border is not in the interest of either side, India and China have agreed on a five-point roadmap including quick disengagement of troops and avoiding any action that could escalate tensions for resolving the four-month-long face-off in eastern Ladakh.

As the two countries reached the agreement during the talks between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Thursday evening, government sources said the Indian side strongly raised the deployment of large number of troops and military equipment by China along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh and conveyed its concern. The Chinese side could not provide a credible explanation for the troops buildup, the sources said on Friday.

Jaishankar and Wang met in Moscow on the sidelines of the meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. The talks — the second highest political contact between the two countries in a week — lasted two-and-a-half-hours. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Chinese counterpart General Wei Fenghe had also met in Moscow on Friday on the sidelines of a SCO meet. Government sources said the five-point agreement will guide the approach of the two countries to the current border situation.