China should ensure 'complete disengagement from all friction areas': Rajnath

China should ensure “complete disengagement from all friction areas” without “complicating” or “escalating” the dispute along the border and it should be solved through dialogue, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has said.

The two sides should work towards “restoration of peace and tranquillity along the LAC at the earliest”, he said at his meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe in Moscow on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting, his ministry tweeted on Saturday.

In the “frank and in-depth discussions about the developments in the India-China border areas as well as on India-China relations” that lasted for 2 hours and 20 minutes, Singh “emphasised that the actions of the Chinese troops, including amassing of large number of troops, their aggressive behaviour and attempts to unilaterally alter the status quo were in violation of the bilateral agreements,” the ministry said.

The minister said that the Chinese side should work with the Indian side for “complete disengagement at the earliest from all friction areas including Pangong Lake as well as de-escalation in border areas in accordance with the bilateral agreements and protocols,

During the discussions called by Wei on Thursday, Rajnath said the two sides should continue their discussions, including through diplomatic and military channels, “to ensure complete disengagement and de-escalation and full restoration of peace and tranquillity along the LAC at the earliest,” the ministry said.

“The current situation should be handled responsibly and neither side should take any further action that could either complicate the situation or escalate matters in the border areas,” it said, adding China should “co-operate with India for complete disengagement at the earliest from all friction areas, including Pangong Lake as well as de-escalation in border areas, in accordance with the bilateral agreements and protocols”.

Related news: Hours after Rajnath-Wei talks, China says India responsible for border tension

Just hours after the talks, China issued a statement saying India was to blame for the standoff caused by clashes between the armed forces of the two sides on June 15 that left 20 Indian and an unknown number of Chinese soldiers dead.

The tensions between India and China escalated after the Indian Army said it had thwarted “provocative” attempts by China to change the status quo near the south side of Pangong Tso lake on the night of August 29.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has called the situation the “most serious after 1962”, when India and China went to war.