The government on Thursday invoked a plethora of bilateral agreements signed by India and China to resolve border-related issues, as the stand-off between the soldiers of the two sides continued along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh.
Praising the defence forces, the official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, Anurag Srivastava, at a virtual media briefing said that Indian troops take a very responsible approach towards border management and strictly follow the procedures laid out in various bilateral agreements and protocols with China to resolve any issue that may arise in the border areas.
"Our armed forces scrupulously follow the consensus reached by our leaders and the guidance provided," he said, adding that India is committed to the objective of maintaining peace and tranquillity in the border areas with China.
Since 1993, he said, India and China have signed several bilateral agreements and protocols to ensure peace and tranquillity in the border areas.
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Srivastava recalled that the two countries signed an Agreement on Maintenance of Peace and Tranquility along the Line of Actual Control in the India-China border areas in 1993; Agreement on Confidence Building Measures in the Military Field along the LAC in 1996; Protocol on Modalities for the implementation of the Confidence Building Measures in the Military Field along the LAC in 2005; Agreement on the establishment of a working mechanism for consultation and coordination on India-China Border Affairs in 2012; and the Border Defence Cooperation Agreement in 2013.
The two sides, he said, have established mechanisms both at the military and diplomatic levels to resolve situations which may arise in the border areas peacefully through dialogue, and continue to remain engaged through these channels. At the same time, India, he said, remains firm in its resolve to ensure the country's sovereignty and national security.