India and China have agreed to speed up the resolution of their longstanding border dispute, both governments said following high-level talks on Thursday.
Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, India's top diplomat, met Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Kazakh capital Astana, where both agreed that "the prolongation of the current situation in the border areas is not in the interest of either side," the External Affairs Ministry in New Delhi said in a readout.
China's Foreign Ministry said the two sides "agreed to work toward stability in the border areas" and agreed on a new round of talks as soon as possible, according to its readout.
India and China's 2,100-mile de facto border, known as the Line of Actual Control, has seen multiple military standoffs and skirmishes over the years, while bilateral talks continued to promise breakthroughs.
Tensions came to a head in mid-2020 when a violent melee involving dozens of soldiers in the Galwan Valley, in India's northwestern Ladakh region bordering China-controlled Aksai Chin, led to 20 Indian casualties and at least four Chinese deaths.
Meanwhile, in the east of the LAC, China has renewed what it calls historical claims to parts of India's state of Arunachal Pradesh, which Beijing says form part of its Tibet region.
"The claims are ludicrous to begin with and remain ludicrous today," Jaishankar said in March.
At Jaishankar's meeting with Wang on the margins of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, the Indian official called for the redoubling of efforts "to achieve complete disengagement" in Ladakh in order to "remove obstacles towards return of normalcy in bilateral relations."
Withdrawing some of the tens of thousands of troops stationed on both sides of the border has long been a stated goal of negotiations, but satellite imagery suggests Chinese garrisons are digging in.
"The Line of Actual Control must be respected and peace and tranquility in the border areas always ensured," Jaishankar said.
Wang urged New Delhi to take a "strategic view" of its relations with Beijing, his ministry said.
"India and China have many shared interests. The development of a stable and predictable Sino-Indian relationship is in the interests of both sides and will also benefit the region and the world," Wang said.
The two nuclear-armed superpowers have held several rounds of military-to-military dialogue at the border, but have so far failed to achieve the desired drawdown.
Their poorly demarcated Himalayan border remains porous, with India's army previously accusing China's patrols of intentionally straying into its territory.
Observers suggest the decades-long stalemate is likely to continue, with each posing a strategic distraction to the other on the flanks.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
John Feng is Newsweek's contributing editor for Asia based in Taichung, Taiwan. His focus is on East Asian politics. He ... Read more
