Amid rising border tension between India and China along Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh, the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Monday said that both the countries want to maintain close communication on resolving the issue and that they don’t want to turn their differences into disputes.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said that India and China want to defuse their simmering tension through “diplomatic and military channels”.
The remarks comes days after the military-level talks between Indian and Chinese military commanders on Chushul-Moldo point along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh.
Taking to Twitter China’s ambassador to India Sun Weidong quoted the Foreign Ministry spokesperson as saying “border areas’ situation” were discussed during the meeting on June 6. He said China and India have maintained close communication on resolving border issues through diplomatic and military channels
Hua stressed: “China and India agreed to implement the important consensus reached by leaders, not to turn differences into disputes, work together to maintain peace and tranquility in border areas, so as to create a favourable atmosphere for stable development of bilateral relations”.
The Indian delegation led by 14 Corps Commander Lt Gen Harinder Singh on Saturday met his Chinese equivalent Major General Liu Lin, who is the commander of South Xinjiang Military Region of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), to address the ongoing tussle in Eastern Ladakh.
Hua said that the overall situation in the border areas is generally stable and under control.
“China and India have the capacity and willingness to properly solve relevant issues through negotiation and consultation,” she added.
In similar remarks, India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Sunday said that the meeting between the Corps Commander based in Leh and the Chinese Commander took place in a “cordial and positive atmosphere”. “Indian and Chinese military commanders agreed to peacefully resolve the current border issue in eastern Ladakh in accordance with bilateral pacts as well as the agreement reached between leadership of the two countries,” it said.
On Friday, officials of India and China interacted through video-conferencing with the two sides, agreeing that they should handle “their differences through peaceful discussion”, while respecting each other’s sensitivities and concerns and not allowing them to become disputes in accordance with the guidance provided by the leadership.
Indian and Chinese troops have been locked in a nearly month-long high-altitude standoff in Eastern Ladakh. Tension in the region started on May 5, when around 200 army personnel from India and China clashed along the northern bank of the Pangong Lake in eastern Ladakh.
However, in the last few days, there has not been any major movement of the PLA troops at the multiple sites where it has stationed itself along the LAC opposite Indian forces.