India and China said - on Saturday - that they agreed to seek to ease tension along their disputed borders, after the two countries' defense ministers met with mutual accusations.
The two sides deployed additional forces along the border west of the Himalayas, after a clash in June in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed, and China has not announced the number of casualties among its forces.
In the highest direct political contact between the two countries since the border tension erupted in May, Indian Defense Minister Ragat Singh and his Chinese counterpart Wei Feng He met on Friday, on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting in Moscow.
In the statement issued by the Indian Ministry of Defense, the two countries agreed that "neither side should take any other action that would complicate the situation or escalate matters in the border areas."
The Chinese minister said peace and stability should be strengthened and the current tension eased, according to a news report on the meeting published by the Chinese Defense Ministry on its website.
However, the two ministers exchanged accusations of provoking confrontations, after their participation Friday in the Shanghai Organization meeting in Moscow.
"The actions of the Chinese forces, including their large number of soldiers, their hostile behavior and their attempts to unilaterally change the situation, are a violation" of the agreements between the two neighboring countries, Singh stressed.
The Chinese minister took a similar hard-line stance, saying, "The cause and the reality of the current tension at the border between China and India are very clear, and the responsibility lies entirely with India."
India withdrew from military maneuvers scheduled for the countries of the organization, to avoid the presence of its forces alongside the Chinese forces, and it also escalated its economic pressure by banning Chinese applications and preventing Chinese products from entering its ports.