Chinese and Indian Soldiers Withdraw From Disputed Territory, India Says

NEW DELHI -Chinese and Indian soldiers have withdrawn from disputed territory high in the Himalayan Mountains, the Indian government said Monday, ending a tense three-week standoff between the world's two most populous nations.

”The governments of India and China have agreed to restore the status quo” in the disputed border area to what it was before April 15 of this year, Syed Akbaruddin, the spokesman for the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, said in a statement.

On April 15, dozens of Chinese soldiers arrived on foot and in military vehicles and pitched three tents in an area both countries claim near the north Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, provoking an outcry in India. India responded by putting its own troops nearby, local news reports said.

The Chinese soldiers at one point displayed signs in English saying, ”You've crossed the border. Please go back,” according to a picture distributed by the Press Trust of India  news service.

Throughout the standoff, India's governing Congress party emphasized quiet diplomacy over an aggressive public response, angering members of other political parties and even leading some to suggest that the situation called for war with China.

On Monday, India also confirmed that a previously scheduled trip to China by Salman Khurshid, the external affairs minister, would go ahead Thursday,  and that he and his Chinese counterpart, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, would discuss the proposed visit to India of the Chinese prime minister, Li Keqiang.

”The two ministers will discuss bilateral, regional and global issues of concern to both sides,” the Indian government said, as well as the premier's visit.

China's official statement on the situation Monday was less definitive.

Hua Chunying, the spokeswoman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, referred to the situation at a regular news conference in Beijing as the ”Sino-Indian standoff incident near the western point of China-India border.”

Both sides, she said, have maintained close communication and consultation through diplomatic channels.

But she suggested that the situation was not yet resolved.

China is willing to join efforts with India ”so as to reach as soon as possible a fair and reasonable border issue solution that both sides could accept,” she said.

Hari Kumar contributed reporting from New Delhi, and Patrick Zuo from Beijing.