China, India Agree to Disengage in Himalayan Border Line

After a high-level diplomatic meeting in Moscow, China and India announced that they had agreed to de-escalate the tension on their disputed borders in the Himalayan region.

The two states pledged to take steps to restore "peace and tranquility in the disputed area.

They said in a joint statement that Chinese State Councilor Wang Yi met with India's Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar in Moscow on Thursday.

The Indian and Chinese representatives reached a consensus of five points, including that the current border situation is not in their interest.

They agreed that forces of both sides must quickly end the engagement and calm the tension.

The agreement was reached on the sidelines of a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization held in Moscow, and came after a clash this week in the border region of the Western Himalayas.

China and India traded accusations of firing in the air during the confrontation, in violation of a long-standing protocol that firearms should not be used at the border.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday that Wang told Jaishankar during the meeting to immediately cease provocations such as shooting and other dangerous actions that violate the commitments made by the two sides.

Wang also said that all Indian personnel and equipment that have crossed the border line should be withdrawn, and border forces on both sides should "quickly disengage" in order to de-escalate the situation.

China's "Global Times", an influential tabloid published by the official mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, said in an editorial late Thursday that any talks with India must be accompanied by readiness for war.

India and China fought a border war in 1962, and each still claims sovereignty over thousands of square kilometers of land that stretches from the snow-covered deserts of Ladakh in the west to the mountainous forests in the east.

Senior Russian officials in Moscow revealed that the defense ministers of both India and China are held talks in Moscow on Friday, September 4 .

The ministerial meeting came at the highest level of political communication since tensions has erupted over the disputed border.

The Russian government officials said that Moscow seeks to defuse the escalation between the two neighboring countries in Asia.

Both China and India enjoy warm relations with Russia.

An Indian government official said Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh has obtained permission to meet with his Chinese counterpart, Wei Fengi, in Moscow, where they are both attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting.

The official added that the meeting's request came from the Chinese side.

A green signal was given for the meeting," said the official, who asked not to be identified due to the Indian service rules.

The Chinese and Indian governments deployed additional forces along the border that runs through the western section of Himalayas mountains, after a clash in June, in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed in fist fight.

China has not commented on the news of the meeting between the two ministers, but Hu Shijin, editor-in-chief of the Chinese state-backed "Global Times" newspaper, said on Twitter that a meeting was expected between the two defense ministers.

Military and diplomatic leaders from the two countries had held talks to end the confrontation over the Line of Actual Control, or de facto borders, but little progress was made.

Indian officials said last weekdays earlier that forces on the border had been mobilized to deter Chinese forces, whose movements indicated that they aimed to occupy a hilltop that India considers within its territory.

The Indian army chief said he was confident that the talks could end the stand-off with China, even as the thousands of soldiers remained along the disputed region in the western Himalayas.

"We are confident that the problem can be solved completely through talks," General Manoj Mukund Naravan told Asia International News Agency (ANI), during a visit to the Ladakh region, where the two countries' forces are gathering in a months-long confrontation.