India and China reviewed the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and reaffirmed the importance of maintaining peace and tranquillity in the border areas during the 36th meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) on India-China Border Affairs, held in New Delhi on August 6.
The Indian delegation was led by Sujit Ghosh, Joint Secretary (East Asia), Ministry of External Affairs, while the Chinese delegation was headed by Hou Yanqi, Director General of the Boundary and Oceanic Affairs Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China.
According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the two sides held “frank discussions” and reviewed the prevailing situation along the LAC.
The two sides underlined that “maintaining peace and tranquillity in the border areas is essential for the overall development of bilateral relations.”
The MEA said both countries agreed to continue using existing diplomatic and military channels, including the WMCC, local commander-level meetings and other agreed mechanisms, to address outstanding issues and prevent misunderstandings and miscalculations along the LAC.
The two sides also held detailed exchanges on boundary delimitation, border management, mechanism-building and trans-border cooperation as a follow-up to the outcomes of the 24th Special Representatives (SR) Talks.
On trans-border rivers, India reiterated the need for an early meeting of the Expert Level Mechanism.
The MEA said the Indian side “reiterated the need for early convening of the next meeting of the Expert Level Mechanism on trans-border rivers and emphasized the importance of sharing technical details on upstream projects.”
The WMCC is an institutional mechanism established by India and China to maintain regular communication on border affairs and facilitate coordination aimed at preserving peace and stability along the Line of Actual Control.
