By Sudhi Ranjan Sen July 25, 2024

China and India have agreed to work with “urgency” to resolve their four-year-old border dispute that has prevented normalization of relations between the South Asian neighbors.

The decision was announced after a meeting between India’s External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, according to a statement from India’s foreign ministry. The two met on the sidelines of the ASEAN-related Foreign Minister’s meeting at Vientiane, Lao PDR on Thursday.

Relations between the South Asian neighbors soured since 2020 when a border skirmish left 20 Indian and at least four Chinese soldiers dead. Fighter jets, tanks and thousands of soldiers have been deployed toe-to-toe since then.

India discourages Chinese investments as a retaliation.

“Both Ministers agreed on the need to work with purpose and urgency to achieve complete disengagement at the earliest,” said the statement. The two countries have also agreed to hold another round of military and diplomatic talks, the statement said.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-07-25/china-and-india-agree-to-resolve-border-dispute-with-urgency