UN Secretary-General Antònio Guterres welcomes India-China border de-escalation agreement

By R Anil Kumar

• India and China agree to de-escalate border tensions

• China confirms military de-escalation deal with India

• On Monday October 21, India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri announced that an agreement has been reached regarding patrolling arrangements along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), in the India-China border areas

• This agreement aims to facilitate disengagement and resolve the issues that arose in these areas in. 2020

UNITED NATIONS, October 23. United Nations Secretary- General Antònio Guterres has expressed satisfaction and hopes that “Good neighbourly relations” between India and China will be strengthened following their recent agreement on border de-escalation.

During the daily UN briefing, Guterres welcomed any positive engagement, between the two nations, emphasising the  importance of enhancing the relationship.

Earlier, on Monday, October, 21, India’s Foreign Secretary, Vikram Misri announced that an agreement has been reached regarding patrolling  arrangement along the Line-of-Actual Control (LAC) in the India-China border areas.

This agreement aims to facilitate disengagement and resolve the issues that arose in these areas in 2020.

China’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian confirmed that China views the agreement favourably.

This development has happened a day prior to India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi travelling to Russia, to participate in the BRICS SUMMIT.

This decision marks a major development between the two nuclear-armed nations since the Galwan clashes, in 2020.

Border tensions have cast a long shadow on India-China  relations for decades with even the business relations between the two Asian giants have also heavily suffered due to the tensions.

The root cause is an ill-defined 3,440 Km (2,100 mile) long disputed border, often bringing soldiers from both sides face-to-face  at many points, sparking a confrontation.

This decision of disengagement has brought some solace to the world, that has been hit by conflicts at various places.