“We hope that the Indian side will cherish the mitigation of the situation in the border area, will respect the agreements and consensus reached by the military forces of the two countries during previous negotiations”, the defence ministry said.

The Indian Defence Ministry said on Saturday that during the 11th corps commander meeting, India and China discussed how to ensure full disengagement of forces along the so-called line of actual control (LAC). The talks took place on Friday at the Chushul-Moldo border meeting point.

China’s defence ministry said on Sunday that it expected the Indian side to cooperate in maintaining peace and stability in the border region together.

© AP PHOTO / MUSTAFA QURAISHI

Indian and Chinese Army commanders attend the Border Personnel Meeting (BPM) inside tents on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control at Bumla, on the India-China Border, Monday, Oct. 30, 2006

On 25 February, Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar discussed the relations between New Delhi and Beijing in phone talks with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi.

The talks came soon after the 10th round of talks between Indian and Chinese corps commander-ranked officers, after the completion of troop disengagement on both banks of Lake Pangong Tso.

Since the 1962 war between India and China, the two lack a duly demarcated borderline in the Himalayas. Following a deadly escalation near Lake Pangong Tso last May, India and China boosted their military presence in the disputed region, while simultaneously launching disengagement consultations