NEW DELHI: India on Friday reiterated that it would like the ongoing disengagement process to be completed at the earliest, but cautioned that it could be achieved through mutually agreed reciprocal actions, even as Indian Ambassador to China Vikram continued to meet top officials in Beijing to apprise them of the situation along the LAC.
“Both sides have agreed on broad principles of disengagement and based on it, some progress had been earlier made. Translating these principles on the ground is a complex process that requires re-deployment of troops by each side towards their regular posts on their respective sides of the LAC. It is natural that this can be done only through mutually agreed reciprocal actions,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said.
The comments come days after Chinese Ambassador to India Sun Weidong, in an article, accused Indians of triggering the June 15 violent face-off in the Galwan Valley and said the onus of disengagement was not on Beijing.
Meanwhile, Indian Ambassador Vikram Misri on Friday met a senior member of China’s Central Military Commission and discussed New Delhi’s position on the current stand-off with Beijing at the border.
“Ambassador @VikramMisri today met Major General Ci Guowei, Director of the Office of International Military Cooperation of the Central Military Commission and briefed him on India’s stance vis-a-vis the situation on the borders in eastern Ladakh UT,” the Indian Embassy in Beijing tweeted.
Misri on Wednesday met CPC Central Committee on foreign affairs deputy director Liu Jianchao, considered as a key aide of Chinese President Xi Jinping, and discussed the situation at the border.
Srivastava said India continues to engage with China militarily and diplomatically, and further meetings are likely soon to discuss the more steps in the disengagement process in accordance with the agreement of the special representatives.
“We expect that the Chinese side to sincerely work with us towards the objective of complete disengagement and de-escalation and full restoration of peace and tranquillity in the border areas as agreed by the Special Representatives. This is also necessary and essential in the context of the overall development of our bilateral relationship’,” he said.