Ladakh face-off | India, China agree to de-escalate

India and China on Wednesday agreed not to escalate matters along the Line of Actual Control, following a conversation between External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Following the call, it was agreed that both sides would deal with the situation in a “responsible manner” and “neither side would take any action to escalate matters and instead, ensure peace and tranquillity as per bilateral agreements and protocols,” the Ministry of External Affairs quoted Mr. Jaishankar as saying. “The two sides agreed to deal fairly with the serious events caused by the conflict in the Galwan Valley, jointly abide by the consensus reached at the military-level meetings of the two sides, cool down the situation on the ground as soon as possible, and maintain peace and tranquillity in the border areas in accordance with the agreement reached so far between the two countries,” said the statement. The MFA said he conveyed China’s “strong protest” and “demanded that the Indian side conduct a thorough investigation, severely punish those responsible for the incident, strictly control the frontline troops, and immediately stop all provocative actions to ensure that such incidents cannot occur again.” He also called on both sides to “strengthen the communication and coordination on the proper handling of the border situation through the existing channels such as the meeting mechanism between the special representatives of the Sino-Indian border and the meeting mechanism of the border defence force, so as to jointly maintain peace and tranquillity in the border area.” On Wednesday, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian declined to provide details of Chinese casualties from Monday’s clash, although reports have confirmed there were casualties on both sides. Asked about China’s casualties, Mr. Zhao said, “I have stated that the Chinese and Indian border troops are now jointly dealing with relevant matters on the ground.