India, China must cherish 'hard won' progress at LAC: Beijing

Speaking at a press briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said that New Delhi and Beijing should cherish the hard-won result and consolidate current progress made at the border.

Beijing:India and China must cherish the "hard-won" progress, said the Chinese foreign ministry on Friday regarding the disengagement of troops along the Line of Actual Control.

"Chinese and Indian front-line troops have completed disengagement in the Pangong Lake area, and the situation on the ground is getting much better," Wang said.

"Both sides should cherish the hard-won result, consolidate current progress, keep the momentum of talks, further ease tensions, improve the border management and control mechanism, advance border negotiations and enhance mutual trust, to ensure peace and tranquillity in border areas," he added.

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India has not conceded any territory during the disengagement of troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), said the Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday.

"The tenth round of the senior commander's meeting was held on February 20. As agreed earlier by the two sides, the tenth meeting was convened within 48 hours of the completion of the disengagement in the north and south of Pangong Tso," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said during a virtual briefing here.

"India has not conceded any territory as a result of this agreement. On the contrary, it has enforced observance and respect for the Line of Actual Control and it has prevented unilateral change in the status quo. The mutual redeployment -- as a result of this agreement -- should not be misinterpreted," Srivastava added and said that there is absolutely no change concerning India's position on the Line of Actual Control.

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

India and China have had a stand-off along the LAC since April-May last year due to actions of the Chinese Army and have held several rounds of military and diplomatic talks.

ANI

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