India, China hold another round of diplomatic talks on border standoff in eastern Ladakh

India and China on Wednesday held a fresh round of diplomatic talks with a focus on implementing the five-point agreement reached between the two countries to resolve the nearly five-month-long border standoff in eastern Ladakh.

The virtual talks were held under the framework of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) on border affairs.

The focus of the talks was to de-escalate tensions, people familiar with the developments said, as the two sides discussed ways to implement the five-point agreement reached between their foreign ministers in Moscow on September 10.

In Bejing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a media briefing that China and India are holding the 19th meeting of the WMCC on China-India Border Affairs.

The main topics discussed are how to implement the five-point consensus reached in Moscow by the two foreign ministers to resolve outstanding issues on the ground and to ease the situation along the border, he said.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi had held a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation(SCO) meet in the backdrop of a deteriorating situation in eastern Ladakh triggered by a fresh confrontation between the armies of the two countries.

At the meeting, the two sides reached a five-point agreement that included measures like quick disengagement of troops, avoiding action that could escalate tensions, adherence to all agreements and protocols on border management and steps to restore peace along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

The Wednesday talks took place amid a war of words between the two sides on perception of the LAC, the de-facto Sino-India border spanning a length of nearly 3,500 km.