China and India have agreed on first steps to ease the newly flared tensions on their controversial Himalayan border.
According to the official Chinese news agency Xinhua, the two foreign ministers today agreed in an agreement between the two foreign ministers at a meeting in the Russian capital, Moscow, that the troops on both sides should “break away from each other quickly, keep a reasonable distance”, continue their dialogue and reduce tensions.
For the first time in decades, shots were fired
China’s chief diplomat Wang Yi and his Indian colleague Subrahmanyam Jaishankar met the day before on the sidelines of the foreign ministers‘ meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). India and China accuse each other of provocations on the border. For the first time in more than four decades, shots were fired again this week – both sides fired warning shots.
Relations between neighboring nuclear powers deteriorated three months ago after a fatal border incident. At least 20 Indian soldiers were killed. Subsequent de-escalation talks by military and diplomatic representatives from the two most populous countries failed to completely calm the tensions.
The dispute between Asian rivals over their common border has been going on for a long time. In the 1960s, both states fought a brief war that China won. The fatal collision in June was the worst in decades. After that, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi was under strong domestic political pressure to give Beijing a tough response.
