China on Monday said its troops were committed to maintaining peace along the disputed border with India hours after reports in Indian media said soldiers from both sides had clashed near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Naku La area of Sikkim.
The physical brawl between border troops took place ahead of the ninth round of military talks, held on Sunday on the disengagement of Indian and Chinese soldiers from friction points along the LAC.
The Chinese foreign ministry declined to confirm or deny the latest clash between the border troops during the regular ministry briefing on Monday.
“On the specific (incident) you mentioned, I don’t have any information to offer. I would like to stress though the Chinese border troops are committed to upholding peace and tranquility along the border with India,” Zhao Lijian, ministry spokesperson, said.
Zhao said information on the latest round of talks will be released later.
“I can confirm that a new round of talks has been held. The two sides upon agreement will release information in due course,” he said.
A joint statement issued after the eighth round of military talks held at Chushul on November 6 had said both sides would continue dialogue on the disengagement,
“The two sides had a candid, in-depth and constructive exchange of views on disengagement along the Line of Actual Control in the Western Sector of China-India border areas,” the statement said.
“Both sides agreed to maintain dialogue and communication through military and diplomatic channels, and, taking forward the discussions at this meeting, push for the settlement of other outstanding issues, so as to jointly maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas. They also agreed to have another round of meeting soon,” the statement added.
Diplomatic talks have also failed to resolve the ongoing border friction between the two neighbors.
Separate statements issued by the two sides after a virtual meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) on border affairs on December 18 had given no indication of forwarding movement in the disengagement and de-escalation process at friction points in the western sector of the LAC.
