India Pushes for Border Demarcation with China

India pushed for a permanent solution of border demarcation with China and underlined the need to solve complex issues through a structured roadmap of engagement and de-escalation, during talks between defence minister Rajnath Singh and his Chinese counterpart Admiral Dong Jun.

- Rahul Singh

Singh "stressed on border management and to have a permanent solution of border demarcation by rejuvenating the established mechanism on the issue," the defence ministry said on Friday, a day after two ministers held talks at Qingdao in China on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) defence ministers' meeting.

Singh also called for bridging the trust deficit created after the 2020 military standoff along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh by taking action on the ground.

India and China have different perceptions of the LAC because of which rival patrols often come face-to-face along the contested border.

"The two ministers agreed to continue consultations at various levels to achieve progress on issues related to disengagement, de-escalation, border management and eventual delimitation through existing mechanisms," the ministry said in a statement.

This was Singh's first visit to China after the June 2020 Galwan Valley clash between Indian and Chinese soldiers in eastern Ladakh.

Last October, the Indian Army and the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) completed their disengagement from Depsang and Demchok in eastern Ladakh, the last two flashpoints along the LAC. The development allowed the two armies to get past a twoyear impasse in negotiations and reduce border tensions that began in May 2020.