India and China have agreed that prolonging the current situation in the border areas is not in the interest of either side after foreign minister S. Jaishankar met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Astana, Kazakhstan, India said on Thursday.

The two ministers met along with their delegations on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Meeting of the Council of Heads of State. The objective was to find an early resolution of the remaining issues relating to the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh to stabilise and rebuild bilateral relations.

According to a computer-generated translation of the Chinese readout, Jaishankar said India would adhere to an independent foreign policy.

China has often spoken against cliques in the neighbourhood, particularly in the context of the Quad, of which India is a member alongside the US, Japan and Australia.

Wang had stressed the need to resist “camp confrontation”, according to the Chinese readout.

“China and India, both countries in the ‘Global South’, should work together to oppose unilateral bullying, resist camp confrontation, safeguard the common interests of developing countries, and make due contributions to regional and world peace, stability and development,” it said.

Jaishankar was quoted by the Chinese as saying that developing a stable and predictable India-China relationship was in the interest of both sides and would benefit the region and the world.

“India hopes to work with China to constructively resolve specific differences and open a new page in India-China relations as soon as possible.”

India said Jaishankar had highlighted the need to redouble the efforts to achieve complete disengagement from the remaining areas in eastern Ladakh and restore border peace and tranquillity to remove the obstacles to the return of normalcy in bilateral relations.