Both sides deployed additional forces along the frontier running through the western Himalayas after a clash in June, during which 20 Indian soldiers were killed in hand-to-hand fighting. China has not released casualty figures for its troops.

In the highest level face-to-face political contact between India and China since tensions first flared along the border in May, defense ministers Rajnath Singh of India and General Wei Fenghe of China met late on Friday on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting in Moscow.

Both countries agreed that “neither side should take any further action that could either complicate the situation or escalate matters in the border areas,” India’s defense ministry said in a statement, Reuters reported.

Wei said the two sides should promote peace and stability and work to cool current tensions, China’s Ministry of Defense said in a news report about the meeting posted on its website.

He said, however, that blame for the recent tensions lay “entirely with India”, adding that China was determined to safeguard its national sovereignty and territory.

China called on India to strengthen control of its frontline forces, refrain from provocative actions and “refrain from deliberately hyping and disseminating negative information”.

The Chinese products with tougher tariffs measured by India will reportedly include chemicals and pharmaceuticals, rubber and metal items, heavy and industrial machinery, paper, steel, glass, fertilizer, furniture, electronics, and plastic toys.

Local sources said discussions are also ongoing to raise import duty on furniture, as well as auto components and air-conditioner compressors. The proposal is being evaluated by India’s Finance Ministry as part of the government’s push for more local manufacturing.

According to the same sources, the Trade Ministry is separately evaluating non-tariff measures to check Chinese imports, to avoid falling foul of World Trade Organization rules. Such measures would include more inspections, further product testing, and enhanced quality-certification requirements, they said, RT reported.

The need for import substitution has come to the fore in India after disruptions to raw-material supplies from China in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Calls for the process to be expedited have increased following a deadly border clash between soldiers from both countries along a disputed border in the Himalayas this month.

China is India’s biggest importer, with purchases such as electronic goods, industrial machinery, and organic chemicals amounting to almost $70 billion in 2019. Beijing enjoys a trade surplus of about $50 billion with New Delhi.

Twenty troops of India were killed in the clash on Monday night that was the deadliest conflict between the sides in 45 years, China has not disclosed whether its forces suffered any casualties.

Responding to China’s claim to the valley, India’s external affairs ministry spokesman, Anurag Srivastava, said both sides had agreed to handle the situation responsibly. “Making exaggerated and untenable claims is contrary to this understanding,” he said in a statement, AP reported.

Both sides have accused each other of instigating the clash between their forces in the valley, part of the disputed Ladakh region along the Himalayan frontier.

Media reports said senior army officers of the two sides met on Wednesday to defuse the situation, but there was no confirmation from either side.

Indian security forces said neither side fired any shots, instead of throwing rocks and trading blows. The Indian soldiers, including a colonel, died of severe injuries and exposure in the area’s sub-zero temperatures, the officials said.

The clash escalated a standoff in the disputed region that began in early May, when Indian officials said Chinese soldiers crossed the boundary at three different points, erecting tents and guard posts and ignoring warnings to leave. That triggered shouting matches, stone-throwing, and fistfights, much of it replayed on television news channels and social media.

China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, warned New Delhi not to underestimate Beijing’s determination to safeguard what it considers its sovereign territory. His comments came in a phone call on Wednesday with his Indian counterpart, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

Wang said China demanded that India conduct a thorough investigation and “harshly punish” those responsible.

“The Indian side would best not make an incorrect judgment of the situation, would best not underestimate China’s strong determination to safety its sovereign territory,” Wang said in a statement issued by the foreign ministry.

He repeated China’s claims that India was solely responsible for the conflict, saying Indian forces had crossed the Line of Actual Control that divides the thousands of troops from both sides deployed in the area.

Jaishankar, in turn, accused China of erecting a structure in the Galvan valley, which he called a “premeditated and planned action that was directly responsible for the resulting violence and casualties,” according to a statement.

He added that the incident would have “serious repercussions” on India’s relationship with China, but that both sides were committed to further disengaging on the remote plateau of the Himalayan terrain.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the soldiers killed in the clashes. “Their sacrifices won’t go to waste,” he said. “For us, the unity and sovereignty of the country is the most important thing. India wants peace, but when provoked, it is capable of giving a fitting reply, be it any kind of situation.”

While experts said the two nations were unlikely to head to war, they also believe easing tensions quickly will be difficult.

Josep Borrell, a European Union vice president, urged both sides to show restraint and engage in military deescalation.

“We express our deep regrets for the casualties incurred and offer our condolences to their loved ones,” the statement said. It called India and China both important partners of the EU and “crucial actors for regional and global stability.”

China claims about 90,000 sq km (35,000 square miles) of territory in India’s northeast, while India says China occupies 38,000 sq km (15,000 square miles) of its territory in the Aksai Chin plateau in the Himalayas, a contiguous part of the Ladakh region.

India unilaterally declared Ladakh a federal territory while separating it from disputed Kashmir in August 2019. China was among the handful of countries to strongly condemn the move, raising it at international forums including the UN Security Council.

Thousands of soldiers on both sides have faced off over a month along a remote stretch of the 3,380km (2,100-mile) Line of Actual Control, the border established following a war between India and China in 1962 that resulted in an uneasy truce.

Tensions have flared in recent weeks between the two regional powers, India and China, over their 3,500-kilometre (2,200-mile) frontier, which has never been properly demarcated.

Thousands of troops from both countries are involved in the face-off concentrated in India’s Ladakh region, just opposite Tibet.

“Both sides agreed to peacefully resolve the situation in the border areas in accordance with various bilateral agreements,” the foreign ministry said in a statement, AFP reported.

The ministry added that the commanders agreed an “early resolution” was “essential” for bilateral relations between the world’s two most populous nations.

“Accordingly, the two sides will continue the military and diplomatic engagements to resolve the situation and to ensure peace and tranquility in the border areas,” the statement said.

There have been numerous face-offs and brawls between Chinese and Indian soldiers at the frontier, but they have become more frequent in recent years.

On May 9, several Indian and Chinese soldiers were injured in a high-altitude cross-border clash involving fists and stone-throwing in Sikkim state.

Indian officials said that within days, Chinese troops encroached over the demarcation line in the Ladakh region, further to the west.

India moved extra troops to positions opposite.

The talks, which took place in the Chushul-Moldo region between the two commanders, is believed to be the highest-level meeting since the Sikkim exchange.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping have sought to ease the tensions at summits over the past two years when they agreed to boost border communications between their militaries.