China calls on India to honor commitment on promptly returning missing soldier
Updated 08:19, 21-Oct-2020
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China's Foreign Ministry on Tuesday said China hopes India can honor its commitment on promptly returning a Chinese soldier who recently got lost in the border area.

Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson for the ministry, told a press briefing that India has informed the Chinese army it will return the soldier after conducting medical examinations.

He said the Indian side had agreed to offer support and pledged to promptly return the soldier to China once he was found.

"We have received the Indian army's notice that they had captured a Chinese soldier after he strayed across the China-India border and would return him after the completion of formalities," Senior Colonel Zhang Shuili, spokesperson for the Western Theater Command of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), said in a statement late Monday.

"We hope the Indian side would keep its promise and return the soldier as soon as possible and work together with China to promote the implementation of a consensus on the seventh round of military commander-level talks."

Zhang said the soldier got lost when he was helping local herders find their yaks.

China and India have been locked in a months-long border confrontation in the Galwan Valley in the Ladakh region.

Both sides have blamed the other side for the clashes and have held several rounds of military and diplomatic talks. 

Read more:

China, India reach 5-point consensus on de-escalating border tension 

(With input from Xinhua)