China and India agreed to set up a communications hotline that can be used to immediately resolve border issues between the two countries. The agreement was reached during a key meeting Thursday and Friday related to border issues. The meeting was held in New Delhi.

Aside from the telephone hotline to be manned by the respective nation's military establishment, the two sides also agreed on setting up a telecommunications liaison between their frontline forces. Regular meetings involving senior officers of adjacent combat units  and border defense forces of the two militaries have also been agreed upon.

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The meeting was held in compliance with agreements reached between China's president Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, when President Xi visited New Delhi in September.

During that visit, Xi proposed that China and India should agree to "jointly manage differences, safeguard peace and tranquility of the border area and prevent the border question from holding up the development of bilateral relations."

The Indian prime minister also committed India's readiness to manage any border issues and to accelerate negotiations.

Over the past several decades, China and India have been at odds over two large pieces of territory, and other smaller parts of the border. In the western part of the border, Aksai Chin is being claimed by India as part of the region of Ladakh. But this piece of territory is being administered by China as part of the autonomous region of Xinjiang.

Another hotly contested territory is in the easternmost part of the border south of the McMahon Line. The Indians named it part of Arunachal Pradesh, but  China says it is still part of Chinese territory, basing from what it says are traditional boundaries. 

TagsNew Delhi