India and China pledged to de-escalate tensions along their disputed Himalayan border after their foreign ministers met Thursday for the first time since May when the stand-off began.

Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi agreed that "the current situation in the border area is not in the interests of both sides,” they said in a joint statement after meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Moscow organized by Russia.

The nations "should abide by the existing border affairs agreements and regulations, maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas, and avoid any actions that may escalate the situation,” they said.