China, India should effectively implement five-point consensus: Chinese FM

MOSCOW-- China and India should implement in real earnest the five-point consensus reached Thursday on the developments in the border areas as well as on bilateral relations, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Friday at a press conference after talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Noting that the world currently pays close attention to China-India relations, Wang said he and Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar had an extensive and in-depth exchange of views on the situation in the border areas as well as bilateral ties during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization foreign ministers' meeting.

Prior to that, Wang said, he had also communicated with Jaishankar and Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval over the phone.

During the meeting on Thursday, the Indian side expressed its willingness to ease tensions in the border areas through diplomatic and political channels, and the Chinese side is also willing to work in the same direction, he said.

The two sides reached a five-point consensus regarding the current situation and issued a joint press release on Thursday, Wang said, adding that China expects the consensus be implemented effectively.

The top priority is that Indian frontline soldiers must not violate their commitments once again in the border areas, in particular, the recurrence of shooting incidents must be prevented, the senior Chinese official said.

Meanwhile, the cross-border Indian personnel and equipment should be completely withdrawn as soon as possible, so as to restore peace and tranquility in the region, he added.

On such basis, the two sides can continue to push forward dialogue and negotiation to create conditions for the final settlement of the border issue.