China’s Ministry of National Defence on Thursday said maintaining peace on the Sino-India border was a priority for both nations, Xinhua reported. The statement comes at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in China’s Wuhan to attend an informal summit with President Xi Jinping.
Wu Qian, the ministry’s spokesperson said people from both nations shared an aspiration to stabilise bilateral military relations. “Despite some difficulties and obstacles in the bilateral military relationship, we are willing to deepen understanding, enhance mutual trust, properly handle differences, and incessantly accumulate positive energy for the healthy and stable development of military ties under the guidance of the important consensus reached between leaders of both countries,” Wu said.
The summit and the ministry’s statement comes months after the strain in bilateral ties because of the military standoff at Doklam near Sikkim in August 2017. This will be Modi’s fourth visit to the country since 2014. He is due to visit China again on June 9 and June 10 for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit.
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