China says it agreed to a 'cooling down' at border

Days after the bloody bath broke out between the two nuclear-equipped countries, Beijing on Thursday agreed to cool down the border tensions with New Delhi. This comes after the biggest military confrontation in over five decades that has significantly escalated the already volatile border standoff between the two countries.

Beijing: China said it has agreed to a 'cooling down' of tensions along its border with India following a fatal clash there earlier this week.

"The two sides agreed to deal fairly with the serious events caused by the conflict in the Galwan Valley," said Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at a regular press conference on Thursday.

He said that the two nations would "abide by the consensus reached at the meeting of the military commanders of the two countries, make the situation cooling down as soon as possible and maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas."

A fatal clash between Indian and Chinese troops along a disputed border high in the Himalayas shows China's growing belligerence toward its nuclear-armed neighbour in the wake of a geopolitical power struggle with the United States and changes to the political status of Kashmir, experts said Wednesday.

Indian security forces said soldiers battered each other with rocks and fists but neither side fired any shots in the clash in the Ladakh region late Monday.

China accused Indian forces of carrying out "provocative attacks" on its troops and did not disclose if any of its soldiers died.

It was the first deadly confrontation on the disputed border between India and China since 1975, and while experts said they were unlikely to head into a war, easing tensions quickly would be difficult.

(AP)