New Delhi says India, China have agreed to reduce tensions over border dispute

As reports poured in over the week of India and China escalating tensions over their Ladakh border disputed, New Delhi said Saturday it had agreed de-escalate with Beijing to avoid conflict.

Both sides deployed additional forces along the frontier running through the western Himalayas after a clash in June, during which 20 Indian soldiers were killed in hand-to-hand fighting. China has not released casualty figures for its troops.

India’s defence minister Rajnath Singh met counterpart General Wei Fenghe on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting in Moscow late on Friday.

Both countries agreed that “neither side should take any further action that could either complicate the situation or escalate matters in the border areas,” from India’s defense ministry said in a statement.

The meeting is the highest level face-to-face political contact between India and China since tensions first flared along their disputed mountain border in May.