India, China set for more talks to de-escalate Himalayan standoff

Indian and Chinese diplomats will hold another round of talks on Friday to narrow differences on ways to pull back troops eye-balling each other across a disputed border in the western Himalayas, where 20 Indian soldiers died in a clash over a month ago.

The Galwan Valley skirmish marked the worst clash in decades between Asia's nuclear-armed giants.

Since then the two sides have held several rounds of talks to restore calm, and reduced the numbers of troops in the valley, while still pouring reinforcements into the region.

Once they agree on how to sequence a pull back from frontline positions, the next step would be for the withdrawal of all the additional forces and military equipment that were deployed in rear areas after the clash.

Diplomats from both sides will hold talks through a virtual meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs, a government source in New Delhi said.

India's foreign ministry spokesman Anurag Srivastava said maintenance of peace on the de facto border, called the Line of Actual Control (LAC), was the basis of bi-lateral relations.

On Thursday, New Delhi said companies from neighbouring countries bidding for government contracts would need to register and obtain security clearance.

Citing security concerns, India has outlawed 59 apps of Chinese origin, including ByteDance's TikTok and Alibaba's UC Browser.