China, India commanders meet after border clash

Indian and Chinese military commanders met on Monday in an attempt to ease tensions at their disputed Himalayan border as the public mood hardened in India for military and economic retort following the clash.

According to media reports, major Indian traders called for a boycott of Chinese goods, and the state of Maharashtra, home to India’s financial capital of Mumbai, put three initial investment proposals from Chinese companies worth $658 million on hold, just days after signing the agreements.

According to India, 20 of its soldiers were killed last Monday in a clash with Chinese troops.

The media reported that an Indian government source said commanders met in Moldo, on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control, the de facto border dividing India’s Ladakh region from the Chinese controlled Aksai Chin.

The meeting lasted several hours, with the Indian side pushing China to withdraw its troops back to where they were in April, the source added. However, China previously had asked India to stop all construction work in what it says is Chinese territory.

The media sources also reported that Soldiers fought with rocks, metal rods, and wooden clubs at the Galwan Valley last Monday after a weeks-long standoff. China has not disclosed how many casualties it suffered, though an Indian minister has said around 40 Chinese soldiers may have been killed.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a press conference in Beijing on Monday that the Indian and Chinese sides were in communication through diplomatic and military channels.

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