New Delhi, Dec 26: An article published in the Chinese state-controlled media outlet said that the Doklam standoff had pushed India and China to the brink of war. Calling the 73-day face-off the biggest crisis in the past 55 years, the op-ed said that “control and management” were the only way out of an armed conflict.
“The Doklam standoff pushed the two Asian powers to the brink of war, becoming the biggest crisis between them in the past 55 years. Bilateral ties have been blighted by three major strategic contradictions: the border dispute, the Tibet issue, and India’s reckoning that China-Pakistan friendship poses a threat. However, it is unlikely that the three interwoven conundrums will be solved in the near future; control and management are the only way out,” the article in Global Times read.
The article came days after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that the Doklam standoff had put severe strain on Sino-India relations. He was in the national capital last week to attend the China-India-Russia talks.
The article further said that the two nations must remain patient and reach consensus on outstanding issues, instead of reacting on public pressure.
“In addition to these decades-long disputes, new ones keep propping up to dent Sino-Indian ties. New Delhi’s application for the membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group in 2016 was opposed by Beijing. India blamed China for blocking its bid to place Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar on the 1267 sanctions list. On these issues, the two nations should further exchange views and remain patient, which helps reach consensus more easily than public pressure and censure,” it further said.
Referring to Dalai Lama’s activities in India and his week-long stay in Arunachal Pradesh, China said that ‘such moves’ might worsen India’s relations with China.
“With the moves, India intends to make China compromise on the border issue, but it has failed to do so, provoking some Chinese to counter India. If India continues to follow this tactic in 2018, its relations with China may worsen further,” it read.