India, China agree to stop beefing up troops on LAC

Ladakh : Both India and China have agreed to stop deploying more troops on the LAC, indulge in any activity that could further tense the situation.

Senior military officials from both countries met on Monday and exchanged ideas on their contested Himalayan border in Ladakh, Chinese defence ministry spokesman Wu Qian said on Tuesday.

In a joint press briefing, the officials said, both sides had agreed to “avoid misunderstandings and misjudgments”, and “refrain from unilaterally changing the situation on the ground”.

It has also been agreed in the meeting that no side will take any unilateral action in the region.

Prior to the agreement, tensions between the two powers had persisted despite several attempts to find a diplomatic, military and political solution, including repeated negotiations in Moscow this month.

Recently, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh told Parliament that China has spread its troops in the undemarcated border, violating the past agreements between the nations.

Singh told parliament that India has informed China through diplomatic channels that its “attempts to unilaterally alter the status quo were in violation of the bilateral agreements”.

The world’s two most populous nations have been locked in a border dispute since April when rival soldiers engaged in skirmishes at several points on their mountain border.