India, China hold diplomatic meeting on border stand-off in Ladakh

NEW DELHI: India and China on Wednesday discussed ways for easing the border tensions and possible future diplomatic contacts during the first formal diplomatic meeting since the June 15 clash in eastern Ladakh’s Galwan Valley during which 20 Indian Army soldiers were killed.

The meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on border affairs (WMCC), the second since June 5, was held through video conference.

WMCC, set up in 2012, is headed by Naveen Srivastava, the joint secretary (East Asia), and Wu Jianghao, director general in the Chinese foreign ministry.

The next level after WMCC is the Special Representatives mechanism but there was no indication whether the two sides intend to convene its meeting any time soon.

Wednesday’s meeting is a followup to one of the corps commanders of the Indian and Chinese armies on Monday at Moldo on the Chinese side of the contested Line of Actual Control (LAC) during which both the sides had agreed on measures to de-escalate the situation. Hindustan Times