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

New Delhi, Feb 27: After India and China foreign ministers reviewed the disengagement of troops along the Line of Actual Control, the Chinese foreign ministry on Friday said, "Both the sides must cherish the "hard-won" progress".

 

 

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."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, so as to ensure peace and tranquility in border areas," he added.

 

Earlier on Thursday, the Ministry of External Affairs had informed that India has not conceded any territory."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 with respect to 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. 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.