Asserting that a "unilateral change of status quo" was not acceptable to India, India has reiterated to China that their decades-old border dispute needs to be resolved at the earliest as it "visibly impacting the relationship in a negative manner." The statement came Wednesday evening after a meeting between Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi at Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, on the sidelines of the meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) - an eight-nation regional grouping that primarily focuses on security and defence issues - which both ministers had attended. 

Jaishankar and Wang discussed "outstanding issues" along the Line of Actual Control in the meeting that lasted an hour, India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said. Both also agreed on calling a meeting between senior military commanders from both sides.

"Concluded a one-hour bilateral meeting with State Councillor and FM Wang Yi of China on the sidelines of Dushanbe SCO Foreign Ministers Meeting. Discussions focused on the outstanding issues along the LAC in the Western Sector," Jaishankar tweeted, referring to the Line of Actual Control.

"Highlighted that unilateral change of status quo is not acceptable. Full restoration and maintenance of peace and tranquillity in border areas is essential for development of our ties. Agreed on convening an early meeting of the Senior Military Commanders," Jaishankar tweeted, along with a photo of him shaking hands with his Chinese counterpart. 

Recalling their last meeting in Moscow in September 2020, Jaishankar emphasized the need to follow through on the agreement reached then and complete the disengagement, resolving the remaining issues along the LAC in eastern Ladakh at the earliest,  NDTV said. 

Jaishankar pointed out to his Chinese counterpart that the successful disengagement in the Pangong Lake area earlier this year had created conditions for resolving the remaining issues. It was expected that the Chinese side would work with India towards this objective, but the situation in remaining areas is still unresolved, Jaishankar said, according to the MEA statement.

Indian and Chinese soldiers had clashed in eastern Ladakh's Galwan Valley in June last year. Twenty Indian soldiers were killed and an unspecified number of Chinese soldiers died in the violent faceoff.

After a nine-month standoff, the militaries of both nations in February this year reached an agreement on disengagement in the north and south banks of Pangong Lake that mandated both sides to cease forward deployment of troops in a "phased, coordinated and verifiable" manner. (SAM)