India tells China border troop pullback needed for better ties

China agrees with Jaishankar, says Sino-India ties have their own ' logic'

India has told China that their bilateral relations will only develop when both countries pull their troops back from a deadly confrontation on their disputed Himalayan border, the Indian foreign minister said. 

Subrahmanyam Jaishankar discussed the possibility of both sides withdrawing from their high-altitude face-off when he met his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, on the sidelines of a regional conference in Dushanbe on Thursday.

"Discussed disengage­ment in our border areas. Underlined that progress in this regard is essential for restoration of peace and tranquillity, which is the basis for development of bilateral ties," Jaishankar said on Twitter. 

Thousands of Indian and Chinese soldiers have been locked in confrontation in the western Himalayas since last year when animosity over a decades old border dispute blew up.