NEW DELHI: A month after India-China troops had a major stand-off at the border, both sides agreed to increase interaction at various levels, more border meeting pointing and also improve telecommunication linkages.
This was decided at a two-day meeting of the working mechanism for consultation and coordination on India-China border affairs that concluded on Friday. Stating that talks were held in a “frank and constructive” manner, a statement issued on the content of the discussions said that both the sides discussed how to maintain peace and tranquility “following the successful termination of the recent stand-off in the western sector”.
It said that both the sides reached consensus on additional confidence building measures that will be implemented at the earliest.
“The measures include inter-alia regular interaction between the Army headquarters and Field commands of the two sides, additional border personnel meeting points, and more telecommunication linkages between forward posts of the two sides at mutually agreed locations,” said the statement.
It added that these measures were “expected to assist in the timely and effective management of situations that may arise on the border”.
Last month, Indian and Chinese troops were eyeball-to-eyeball at Demchok and Chumar for over a fortnight. It was only after several rounds of talks that both the sides agreed to keep status quo.