India pushes China for disengagement at other friction points

Indian Ambassador to China Vikram Misri on Friday met Vice Foreign Minister Luo Zhaohui in Beijing, who was Chinese envoy to India during the Doklam crisis, and emphasised the importance of completing the disengagement of troops from the remaining areas in eastern Ladakh, saying it would help restore peace and tranquillity at the border and provide conditions for progress in bilateral ties.

During the meeting, Misri also flagged outstanding consular issues pertaining to Indian nationals and requested the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs' facilitation in seeking a resolution, the Indian embassy said.

"Ambassador VikramMisri met H.E. VFM Luo Zhaohui today at MFA China. Amb emphasised that maintaining peace and tranquility in border areas had always been the basis for development of bilateral relations," said the Indian embassy in a tweet.

India and China had a stand-off along the Line of Actual Control since April-May last year and the disengagement process was reached after several rounds of military and diplomatic talks.

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 disengage at a few areas and military troops have also been removed to maintain a status of pre-face-off that happened last year.

Earlier in February after the completion of disengagement in the Pangong Lake area, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar emphasised that both sides should now quickly resolve the remaining issues along the LAC in Eastern Ladakh.

Jaishankar said that once disengagement is completed at all friction points, then the two sides could also look at broader de-escalation of troops in the area and work towards the restoration of peace and tranquillity.