What's new: Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi and his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar agreed Thursday to “quickly disengage” from contact along the border between the two countries following a recent skirmish in the area, according to a joint statement (link in Chinese) issued after a face-to-face meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting in Moscow.
The two ministers said that “the border troops of both sides should continue their dialogue, quickly disengage, maintain proper distance and ease tensions,” in an effort to “avoid any action that could escalate matters.”
As the tensions ease, the two sides agreed to “expedite work to conclude new Confidence Building Measures to maintain and enhance peace and tranquility in the border areas,” the statement said without elaborating on the details of the measures.
The background: The agreement between the two sides’ top diplomats came after another skirmish occurred at the two nuclear countries’ border, where the Chinese People's Liberation Army accused Indian troops of illegally crossing the Line of Actual Control and firing warning shots at Chinese border patrol soldiers who were about to enter into negotiations. The defense chiefs of the two sides also met last week in Moscow, although that meeting concluded without an agreement.
Contact reporter Lu Zhenhua (zhenhualu@caixin.com) and editor Marcus Ryder (marcusryder@caixin.com)
