Indian and Chinese foreign ministers have called for the need to manage the border dispute along the Line of Actual Control between the two countries.
The remarks came after the Indian Army on Monday said that the Chinese soldiers had “carried out provocative military movements to change the status quo” in eastern Ladakh on the intervening night of August 29 and 30. However, the Army said their attempts were thwarted by Indian soldiers. The incident occurred on the south bank of Pangong Tso.
Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi asserted that Beijing was committed to maintaining stability along the India-China border and will not be the first to create a complicated situation. “China pursues a policy of good-neighborliness and friendship,” he said, according to Global Times. “We hope to live in long-term stability and friendship with all our neighbors.”
Wang said that Beijing was ready to work with its neighbouring countries to resolve matters through friendly consultation in terms of building friendship and partnership. The Chinese foreign minister said no demarcation between the two countries had led to the problems, adding that “we are ready to manage all kinds of issues through dialogue with the Indian side”.
Meanwhile, India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Monday that the ties between New Delhi and Beijing were “extremely consequential” for both and the rest of the world. Jaishankar, during a session at the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum, said that India was also rising in the global scenario like China but added that it may not be at the same pace.
“But if you look at the last 30 years, India’s rise is also a major global story,” Jaishankar said. “If you have two countries, two societies with a billion people each with the history and culture that they have, it is very important that they reach some kind of understanding or equilibrium between them.”
Tensions between India and China escalated after a clash between the two countries’ armies on June 15 in Ladakh led to the deaths of 20 Indian soldiers and an unidentified number of Chinese soldiers. Several rounds of talks have so far failed to break the impasse.
Last week, Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar had said that the military stand-off between India and China in Ladakh was “surely the most serious situation” since the 1962 Indo-China war over Aksai Chin.
Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat had also said that the “military option” was available if talks with China failed. He said that defence personnel were always prepared “should all efforts to restore status quo along the LAC do not succeed”.
Also read:
India blocks China’s attempt to ‘change status quo’ in eastern Ladakh, says Army
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