JK News Today
Binoo Joshi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with Chinese president Xi Jinping in Johannesburg on the sidelines of the BRICS summit , in which the unresolved issue of more than three-year-long military standoff at the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh came up , has stirred hope that a giant step might be taken in the coming days to de-escalate situation on the borderline .
The hope has come as the two leaders are reported to have agreed to direct their officials to make extra efforts to disengage and de-escalate the situation at the LAC.
The much-awaited meeting between Modi and Xi materialized on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in South African city of Johannesburg on Thursday , within a day after India made a history when its spacecraft Chandrayan -3 made a soft landing at the south pole of moon on Wednesday evening, becoming the first country ever to have achieved this feat .
Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said at the briefing that “ The Prime Minister underlined that the maintenance of peace and tranquility in the border areas , and observing and respecting LAC are essential for the normalization of the India-China relationship.”
“ In this regard, two leaders agreed to direct relevant officials to intensify efforts at expeditious disengagement and de-escalation ,” the foreign secretary said.
\This meeting has come about after 19 rounds of military commander level talks between the two sides of the LAC since June 2020, within weeks after Chinse inflicted a standoff , during which Galwan Valley clashes took place , leaving 20 Indian and four Chinse soldiers dead .
