Top leaders in both India and China are keen on preserving peace along the border and are making efforts to overcome the trust deficit between their respective militaries, Chief of Army Staff General Upendra Dwivedi said.

According to a report by Bloomberg, Dwivedi stated, "The top leadership including prime minister, defense and foreign ministers have met in the last few months” and there is a strong sense of urgency within the armed forces to maintain calm along the borders.

His remarks underscore ongoing efforts by political leaders to mend relations that had deteriorated sharply after the deadliest border clash in decades in June 2020, which claimed the lives of several soldiers.

During recent engagements with Chinese officials, Indian representatives have emphasised that peace and stability along the 3,488-km disputed Himalayan border are key to restoring normal ties.

Following PM Modi’s meeting with President Xi Jinping last year, a series of confidence-building steps were taken, including the resumption of direct flights between the two countries. These services, suspended during the Covid-19 pandemic and the border standoff, resumed in October.

This renewed engagement comes against the backdrop of US President Donald Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on both India and China, disrupting global trade flows. Indian exports to the US now face tariffs of up to 50%, among the highest levied, while Beijing and Washington have agreed to a tenuous truce on tariffs and export controls.

"Therefore, any activity in the Shaksgam Valley is concerned, we do not approve of it. And in these terms, MEA has already issued the statement. Therefore, the joint statement which has been issued in China, what I understand about the CPEC 2.0, we do not accept it, and we consider it an illegal action being carried out by the two nations,” he mentioned.

The Shaksgam Valley shares its northern boundary with China’s Xinjiang Province, lies adjacent to the northern areas of Pakistan-Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) to the south and west, and is bordered by the Siachen Glacier region to the east.

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