India and China agree for 'early resolution' of LAC row, says MEA

India and China have agreed for "early resolution" of the ongoing face-off at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, India's ministry of external affairs (MEA) said on Thursday.

Speaking at the weekly MEA presser, spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said, "It was agreed that an early resolution of the situation would be in keeping with the guidance of the leaders."

He explained, "The two sides are, therefore, maintaining their military and diplomatic engagements to peacefully resolve the situation at the earliest as also to ensure peace and tranquillity in the border areas. This is essential for the further development of Indian-China bilateral relations."

Both sides have had discussions at military and diplomatic levels on the LAC face off. At the level of militaries, Corps Commanders of India and China met at Chushul-Moldo region on 6th June and again on 10th June talks happened at Major General level in Galwan. More talks are expected to happen at divisional and brigade commander level. 

On Tuesday, sources in Delhi confirmed that Chinese troops disengaged at 3 points and went back 2.5 KM. These areas are Galwan Area, Patrolling Point 15 and hot springs area. As reciprocity, Indian troops also went back. But the issue of de-escalation at Pangong Tso remained

China has already reacted to the latest development saying both sides have reached a "positive consensus" over border row.

Spokesperson of Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Hua Chunying said," Recently China and India conducted effective communication through diplomatic and military channels on properly resolving the relevant situation of the western China-India border, and reached positive consensus."

After the 2017 Doklam crisis, both Indian PM Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping gave "strategic guidance" to both the respective ministries in 2 informal summits--the Wuhan informal summit of 2018 and Chennai connect summit of 2019 so that there is no repetition of the past.