India, China must cherish ‘hard won’ progress at LAC: Beijing

Referring to the disengagement of troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the Chinese foreign ministry on Friday said that India and China must cherish the “hard-won” progress

“New Delhi and Beijing should cherish the hard-won result and consolidate current progress made at the border,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin at a press briefing.

“Chinese and Indian front-line troops have completed disengagement in the Pangong Lake area, and the situation on the ground is getting much better,” Wang said.

“Both sides should cherish the hard-won result, consolidate current progress, keep the momentum of talks, further ease tensions, improve the border management and control mechanism, advance border negotiations and enhance mutual trust, so as to ensure peace and tranquility in border areas,” he added.

Indian Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday had said that India has not conceded any territory during the disengagement of troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

“The tenth round of the senior commander’s meeting was held on February 20. As agreed earlier by the two sides, the tenth meeting was convened within 48 hours of the completion of the disengagement in the north and south of Pangong Tso,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said during a virtual briefing.

“India has not conceded any territory as a result of this agreement. On the contrary, it has enforced observance and respect for the Line of Actual Control and it has prevented unilateral change in the status quo. The mutual redeployment — as a result of this agreement — should not be misinterpreted,” Srivastava added and said that there is absolutely no change with respect to India’s position on the Line of Actual Control.

The disengagement process from both the north and south banks of Pangong Lake was completed by the two nations and further disengagement is underway at other friction points.

The armies of both India and China have agreed to disengagement in a few areas and military troops have also been removed to maintain a status of pre-face-off that happened last year.