India, China move towards easing of tensions ahead of June 6 meeting of top commanders

The tension between India and China seemed to deescalate on Wednesday ahead of Corps Commander meeting between the two countries scheduled for June 6.

Indian and Chinese troops have been engaged in a bitter face-off in several areas along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh for nearly a month. However, 

However, both the armies showed restraint on Wednesday and moved towards de-escalation. Both the armies seemed to withdraw away from the face-off at Galwan Valley. However, they continue to be in a standoff near Finger Four at Pangong Lake. 

Away from the un-demarcated boundary, China emphasised that there was no need for the intervention of a "third party" as the two neighbours have full-fledged border-related mechanisms and communication channels to sort out their differences through dialogue.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian's statement at a media briefing came a day after the phone call between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump who has offered to mediate between the two Asian neighbours. 

"Now the situation there (at India-China border) is overall stable and controllable. China and India have full-fledged border-related mechanisms and communication channel. We have the capability to resolve the issue through dialogue and negotiation," Zhao said.

"There is no need for the intervention of a third party," he emphasised. 

According to sources in the Indian government both the countries are holding talks at military and diplomatic levels to resolve the dispute.

After several rounds of negotiations between local commanders as well as between major general-rank officials of the two armies did not yield any positive result, the general officer commanding of Leh-based 14 Corps is expected to hold talks with his Chinese counterpart on June 6 to ease tensions. 

The two nuclear-armed neighbours established the highest level of mechanism to deal with border following 73-day stand-off in Doklam tri-junction in 2017. 

Prime Minister Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held their first informal summit in April 2018 in the Chinese city of Wuhan, months after the Doklam standoff, and the second informal meeting was held last year in the coastal town of Mahabalipuram, almost 50 kilometers south of Chennai.