India said on Thursday that some progress has been made in the disengagement of troops along the Line of Actual Control in Eastern Ladakh but it has not yet been completed and noted that it expected that the Chinese side will sincerely work for complete disengagement and de-escalation and full restoration of peace and tranquillity in the border areas at the earliest.
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said at the regular media briefing that the two sides held the 17th meeting of the Working Mechsm for Consultation and Coordination last week and reviewed the situation in the India-China border areas along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Western sector.
He said they agreed that early and complete disengagement of the troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and de-escalation from India-China border areas in accordance with bilateral agreement and protocols and full restoration of peace and tranquillity was essential for the smooth overall development of bilateral relations.
This was also the agreement reached between the two Special Representatives, NSA and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, in their conversation on July 5, Srivastava said.
"There has been some progress made towards this objective but the disengagement process has as yet not been completed. The Senior Commanders of the two sides will be meeting in the near future to work out steps in this regard," he said.
Srivastava said India has stated earlier that the maintenance of peace and tranquillity in the border areas is the basis of our bilateral relationship.
"Therefore, we expect that the Chinese side will sincerely work with us for complete disengagement and de-escalation and full restoration of peace and tranquillity in the border areas at the earliest as agreed to by the Special Representatives.," he said.
( With inputs from ANI )