India-China standoff: Both sides will handle issues, maintain dialogue, says China after border talks with India

After conducting talks with Indian officials on Friday under the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination(WMCC) on border affairs, China said that both sides will continue to maintain dialogue amid the disengagement process after clashes at Galwan Valley last month.

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The talks come as Indian and Chinese troops disengaged along the LACafter the clash at Galwan Valley on June 15 in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed, although the Chinese army had suffered casualties as reported by the state-run Global Times but the Chinese foreign ministry hasn't revealed the casualty figures.

The Chinese government in a statement said that "both sides exchanged frank and in-depth views on the recent Sino-Indian border situation and made positive progress in easing the situation on the ground."

"The two sides expressed that they will seriously implement the important consensus reached by the foreign ministers of the two countries and the special representatives on the border issue." it added.

China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) had said earlier today that it had completely withdrawn from the Gogra and Hot Springs area in eastern Ladakh after mutually agreed upon disengagement process.

"The two sides fully affirmed the positive progress made by the border defence forces of the two countries in implementing the various consensus at the military-level talks and easing the situation on the ground," the Chinese statement said, adding, "They agreed to continue to maintain dialogue and consultations on the military and diplomatic channels, promote further cooling of the situation on the ground and strengthen confidence-building measures in the border areas."

China said the issues should be "promptly and properly" handled to "avoid the rise of differences into disputes."

India's National Security Advisor(NSA) and China's foreign minister Wang Yi had earlier in the week engaged in a two-hour long talks over the phone to discuss the border situation in the wake of the clashes at the border with both sides asserting that disengagement along the LAC held the key to peace at the border.