This past Sunday, Chinese and Indian forces clashed again in the disputed border area of Ladakh.
"We reiterate the consensus reached between the two Foreign Ministers and SRs [special representatives] that the situation in the border should be handled in a responsible manner and either side should not take any provocative action or escalate matters," the spokesman told a briefing.
Pointing to the latest incident of escalation in Ladakh, Srivastava described it as China's attempt to "effect a unilateral change of status quo" in violation of the bilateral agreements.
"Now the way ahead is negotiations, both through the diplomatic and military channels. The Indian side is firmly committed to resolving all outstanding issues through peaceful dialogue. We therefore strongly urge the Chinese side to sincerely engage the Indian side with the objective of expeditiously restoring the peace and tranquillity in the border areas through complete disengagement and de-escalation in accordance with the bilateral agreements and protocols," Srivastava said.
Since the 1962 war between India and China, the two lack a duly demarcated borderline in the Himalayas. As a consequence, the area has since frequented seeing hassles between the military of both sides.
Following a deadly escalation in May, Indian and Chinese military officials and diplomats had several rounds of talks and reached an agreement to pull forces back to their initial positions.
