Boundary issue with India doesn’t represent entirety of ties: China

PTI

Beijing

China on Wednesday said the Sino-India boundary issue does not represent the entirety of the bilateral ties and called for enhancing mutual trust between the two countries to “avoid misunderstanding and misjudgement”.

India has been maintaining that its ties with China cannot be normal unless there is peace in the border areas.

Bilateral ties nosedived significantly following the fierce clash in the Galwan Valley in June 2020 that marked the most serious military conflict between the two sides in more than four decades.

Responding to questions on External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s remarks this week that the amassing of troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) has “not served either of us well”, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said, the boundary issue should be placed appropriately in the bilateral ties.

“China has stressed multiple times that the boundary question does not represent the entirety of China-India relations, and it should be placed appropriately in the bilateral relations and managed properly,” Wang said.

While responding to a query from a Chinese diplomat at the ‘Express Adda’ on Monday, Jaishankar said, “I think it is in our common interest that we should not have that many forces on the Line of Actual Control (LAC).”

“It is in our common interest that we should observe the agreements that we have signed. And I believe that it is not just in our common interest and it is in China’s interest as well. This tension that we have seen for the last four years has not served either of us well,” Jaishankar said.

Wang, in his reply, said “Both China and India believe that an early settlement of the situation on the China-India border serves the common interests of both countries”.

“We hope that the two sides will follow the common understandings between the leaders of the two countries and the spirit of relevant agreements, maintain communication through diplomatic and military channels, and find a solution to relevant border issues that can be accepted by both sides at an early date”, he said.

China hopes that India will work in the same direction as China and approach the bilateral relations from a strategic height and long-term perspective, he said.