Reuters - The foreign ministers of India and China have agreed that their troops must quickly disengage from a border standoff, they said in a joint statement Friday.
Foreign Ministers S. Jaishankar and Wang Yi met in Moscow on Thursday on the sidelines of a conference to try and end the monthslong dispute on the undemarcated border, the most serious in decades.
"The two foreign ministers agreed that the current situation in the border areas is not in the interest of either side. They agreed, therefore, that the border troops of both sides should continue their dialogue, quickly disengage, maintain proper distance and ease tensions," they said in the statement.
China and India said they had agreed to de-escalate renewed tensions on their contested Himalayan border and take steps to restore "peace and tranquility" following a high-level diplomatic meeting in Moscow. China State Councilor Wang and Jaishankar reached a five-point consensus, including agreements the current border situation is not in their interests and that troops from both sides should quickly disengage and ease tensions, the two countries said in a joint statement.
The two sides clashed in the western Himalayas earlier this week. China and India accused each other of firing into the air during the confrontation, a violation of long-held protocol not to use firearms on the sensitive frontier.
Wang told Jaishankar during the meeting the "imperative is to immediately stop provocations such as firing and other dangerous actions that violate the commitments made by the two sides," China's foreign ministry said in the statement Friday.
Wang told Jaishankar all personnel and equipment that have trespassed at the border must be moved and that frontier troops on both sides "must quickly disengage" in order to de-escalate the situation.
China's Global Times, an influential tabloid published by the official newspaper of China's ruling Communist Party, said in an editorial published late Thursday that any talks with India should be paired with "war readiness."
"The Chinese side must be fully prepared to take military action when diplomatic engagement fails, and its front line troops must be able to respond to emergencies, and be ready to fight at any time," the newspaper said.
"India has an abnormal confidence in confronting China. It does not have enough strength. If India is kidnapped by extreme nationalist forces and keeps following its radical China policy, it will pay a heavy price."
