India, China likely to hold joint secretary-level talks today amid border tensions

The Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) is likely to hold virtual meet on Wednesday to discuss border tensions between the two countries. The WMCC talks are headed by joint secretary-level officials from both sides.

WMCC was established in 2012 as an institutional mechanism for consultation and coordination for the maintenance of peace and tranquillity in the India-China border areas, as well as to exchange views on strengthening communication and cooperation, including between their border security personnel.

India and China held Corps Commander-level talks on Monday in which both sides reached a mutual consensus to disengage in the Eastern Ladakh sector.

Indian Army 14 Corps Commander Lt Gen Harinder Singh and his Chinese counterpart on Monday held a meeting that lasted about 11 hours at the Border Personnel Meeting Point at Moldo to reduce the tensions between the two countries.

The commander-level talks were held after a violent face-off between Indian and Chinese troops in Galwan Valley in Ladakh on June 15.

The incident happened after Chinese troops as a result of an attempt by China to unilaterally change the status quo during de-escalation in eastern Ladakh. India has said that the situation could have been avoided if the agreement at the higher level been scrupulously followed by the Chinese side.

India lost 20 of its soldiers in the violent face-off in the Galwan Valley and 10 Indian soldiers also were held captive and later released. Indian intercepts have revealed that the Chinese side suffered 43 casualties including dead and seriously injured.

India and China have held talks at multiple levels to resolve the matter following the matter.

Following the face-off, China`s Vice Foreign Minister Luo Zhaohui and Indian Ambassador to China Vikram Misri met in Beijing on June 16. Jaishankar held telephonic talks with Wang on June 17 and conveyed that what happened in Galway was a "pre-mediated and planned action that was directly responsible for the resulting violence and casualties."

ANI had reported on Monday that along with military-level talks, both sides are planning to engage at diplomatic level soon.