Beijing: The Chinese military has asserted that the situation along the India-China border is "generally stable at present" and both sides are maintaining "effective communication" to resolve the military standoff in eastern Ladakh that sparked a major rift between the two countries. Defence Ministry spokesperson Wu Qian made the statement in response to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent interview with Newsweek on the matter.
PM Modi stressed an urgency to resolve the "prolonged situation" at the border to remove the "abnormality in bilateral relations" and restore peace and tranquillity in the border areas. He asserted that India's relationship with China was important not just for the region but for the entire world.
"At present, the situation in the border areas between China and India is generally stable. Both the sides have maintained effective communication through diplomatic and military channels had positive constructive dialogue and achieved positive progress," Wu said while responding to a query on PM Modi's remarks and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s reported comments that India will continue to have dialogue with China to resolve the standoff at the border areas.
Wu further said that “both sides have agreed to reach a mutually acceptable solution as soon as possible” to resolve the standoff. His remarks came after Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning in her response to PM Modi’s interview on April 11 said sound and stable China-India relations serve the interests of both countries and are conducive to peace and development in the region and beyond.
'Great positive progress' at borders: Chinese foreign ministry
The Chinese foreign ministry asserted earlier this month that China and India have made "great positive progress" to resolve the border standoff and both sides are maintaining close communication. “We also believe that a healthy China and India relations serve the interests of the two countries,” she said.
China hopes India will work in the same direction to "properly manage" differences between both sides and promote the bilateral relations on a healthy stable track, Mao further remarked. She further informed that China has noted PM Modi's remarks, and said, "Sound and stable China-India relations serve the interests of both countries and are conducive to peace and development in the region and beyond," she said.
The Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson also repeated Beijing's oft-repeated stand that the border dispute with India does not represent the entirety of China-India relations, and it should be placed appropriately in bilateral relations and managed properly”. India has previously maintained that the relations cannot be normalised without resolving the border situation.
What did PM Modi say?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while noting that India's relationship with China is important, has stressed the urgency of addressing the "prolonged situation" on the borders in order to put behind the "abnormality in bilateral interactions" between the two countries so that peace and tranquillity are restored in the disputed areas through constructive engagement.
In an interview with US magazine Newsweek, PM Modi said, "For India, the relationship with China is important and significant. It is my belief that we need to urgently address the prolonged situation on our borders so that the abnormality in our bilateral interactions can be put behind us." He asserted that peaceful and stable relations between India and China are important for not just the two countries but the entire region and world.
“I hope and believe that through positive and constructive bilateral engagement at the diplomatic and military levels, we will be able to restore and sustain peace and tranquillity in our borders,” he added. PM Modi also said that the Quad grouping - comprising India, the US, Australia and Japan - is not targeted towards any country and the members are present in several multilateral groups.
India-China border row
The relations between India and China have been frozen except for trade ties ever since the eastern Ladakh border standoff erupted on May 5, 2020, following a violent clash in the Pangong Tso (lake) area. The two sides have so far held 21 rounds of corps commanders-level talks to resolve the standoff, but are yet to yield a breakthrough.
While India has maintained that there cannot be restoration of normalcy in its relations with China as long as the state of the borders remains abnormal, China continues to press India to delink the border issue and bilateral relations and work for normalcy. China has stressed multiple times that the boundary question does not represent the entirety of the China-India relations, which should be placed appropriately in the bilateral relations and managed properly.
(with PTI inputs)
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