India, China agree to de-escalate border tensions

India and China have agreed on patrol arrangements to ease tensions along their disputed Himalayan border, India’s top diplomat said.

Vikram Misri said on Monday that the two sides had reached an agreement to “disengage and resolve these issues”. [border] Areas emerging in 2020″.

he is referring to Galwan Valley conflict There were casualties on both sides, marking the first deadly conflict between the two sides since 1975.

Relations between the neighbors have been tense ever since.

“An agreement has been reached on patrolling arrangements along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the India-China border areas, thereby achieving disengagement and resolving issues that arose in these areas in 2020,” Misri said.

However, Misri did not reveal any details of the disengagement process or whether it would cover all conflict points along the disputed border.

The statement by the Indian Foreign Minister comes a day before Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Russia to attend a meeting of the BRICS countries, including Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Misri did not confirm whether a bilateral meeting between Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping was on the agenda.

His speech on Monday marked a major development between the two nuclear-armed powers. Galwan conflict

Troops in the Galwan Valley use sticks to fight due to a 1996 agreement between the two countries banning the use of guns and explosives near the border.

Several rounds of talks between diplomats and military leaders from the two countries over the past four years have produced no major breakthroughs.

Troops from both sides clash in northern Sikkim 2021 Again in the border area of ​​Tawang 2022.

For decades, border tensions have cast a long shadow on India-China relations. A war broke out between the two countries in 1962, and India suffered a disastrous defeat.

Business relations between the two Asian giants have also been affected by the tensions.

The root cause is an unclear 3,440-kilometer (2,100-mile) disputed border. Rivers, lakes and snow along the border mean battle lines frequently change, putting soldiers face to face in many places, triggering confrontations.

The two countries have also been racing to build border infrastructure, causing further tensions.

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