New Delhi: The India-China military impasse in Ladakh will take more time than expected to settle to each others’ satisfaction after they pressed for each other to withdraw from their respective position of strength along the de facto border.

But the positive after the sixth round of military commanders’ talks on Sep. 21 is their joint decision not to add more troopers at the already heavily militarised Line of Actual Control there.

In a joint press note issued on Sep. 22 evening, the Indian Army and the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said the two nations’ military also agreed to earnestly implement the important consensus reached between their leaders, and promised to meet again soon.

Earlier this month, in two separate meetings the defence ministers and foreign minister of the two countries had met in Moscow within days of each others’ meeting to reach a consensus on de-escalation along their de facto border, where the two armies are on a face-off for over four months now.

This meeting, held at Moldo on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control in the Chushul sector for over 14 hours, was also attended by a senior Lieutenant General from the Indian Army headquarters and a diplomat from the external affairs ministry.

Here is the joint press statement released by the Indian side today:

Joint Press Release of the 6th round of Senior Commanders’ Meeting between India and China

“On September 21, the Indian and Chinese Senior Commanders held the 6th round of Military Commander-Level Meeting. The two sides had candid and in-depth exchanges of views on stabilising the situation along the LAC in the India-China border areas.

“They agreed to earnestly implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, strengthen communication on the ground, avoid misunderstandings and misjudgments, stop sending more troops to the frontline, refrain from unilaterally changing the situation on the ground, and avoid taking any actions that may complicate the situation.

“The two sides also agreed to hold the 7th round of Military Commander-Level Meeting as soon as possible, take practical measures to properly solve problems on the ground, and jointly safeguard peace and tranquility in the border area.”

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