ISTANBUL/NEW DELHI

China and India’s top diplomats acknowledged Thursday that stabilizing bilateral relations was in the “mutual interest” of their two countries.

The world’s most populated nations have been engaged in a border tussle in the eastern Ladakh area of the disputed Jammu and Kashmir region since May 2020.

At least 24 soldiers, including 20 from the Indian side, died in hand-to-hand fighting that year.

Despite several rounds of talks, no concrete outcome has been announced by either side.

“It is hoped that the two sides will meet each other halfway, actively explore the correct way for the two neighboring major countries to get along and guide all sectors to establish a positive understanding of each other,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Indian counterpart S. Jaishankar in Laos, where they are attending a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Wang stressed that it is in the “interests of both sides for China-India relations to return to the right track.”

Jaishankar agreed on the “need to give strong guidance to complete the disengagement process” along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), a 3,500-kilometer (2,174-mile) de facto border in Ladakh between Indian and Chinese claims in the region.

Calling for “full respect for the LAC and past agreements,” the Indian foreign minister said: “It is in our mutual interest to stabilize our ties. We should approach the immediate issues with a sense of purpose and urgency.”

A readout of the meeting released by Beijing said Wang told Jaishankar that the two emerging economies should “strengthen dialogue and communication, enhance understanding and mutual trust, properly handle contradictions and differences, and develop mutually beneficial cooperation.”

India and China, said Wang, “should rationally transcend contradictions, differences and frictions to promote the improvement and stable and sustainable development of China-India relations.”

Noting that India-China relations have an impact beyond the bilateral scope, he said their response to global challenges “should reflect the unity and cooperation of the Global South countries.”

While Beijing said the two sides “agreed to work together to maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas,” it added that the Chinese and Indian sides would “promote new progress in border affairs consultations.”

However, Jaishankar said “the state of the border (LAC) will necessarily be reflected on the state of our ties.”