Conditions along China’s tense, high-altitude border with India are “stable overall,” Chinese Minister of National Defense Li Shangfu (李尚福) said on Thursday, in sharp contrast with the more pessimistic view from New Delhi.
Li’s remarks came in a statement issued shortly after a meeting with Indian Minister of Defense Rajnath Singh in New Delhi.
“China and India have far more common interests than differences,” Li said in the statement.
Photo: EPA
“At present, conditions on the China-Indian border are stable overall,” Li said.
The sides should “take a long-term view, put the border issue at an appropriate place in bilateral relations and promote the normalization of the border situation as soon as possible,” he said.
In its own statement, the Indian Ministry of Defense quoted Singh as saying that China had eroded the “entire basis” of ties between the countries by contravening bilateral agreements, in reference to a nearly three-year-old standoff involving thousands of soldiers stationed along their disputed border in the Ladakh region.
The development of India-China relations “is premised on the prevalence of peace and tranquility at the borders,” and all border issues need to be resolved in accordance with existing agreements and commitments, it said.
The differing tone of the statements reflects India’s desire to draw attention to what it says is the deployment of a large number of Chinese troops, their aggressive behavior and attempts to unilaterally alter the border status quo between the countries.
China has tried to downplay moves to consolidate its border presence, and often portrays the frictions as part of deliberate US attempts to sow discord between the two nuclear-armed Asian giants.
A clash three years ago in Ladakh killed 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese. It turned into a long-running standoff in the rugged mountainous area, where each side has stationed tens of thousands of military personnel backed by artillery, tanks and fighter jets.
Days before Li’s visit, top Indian and Chinese army commanders held an 18th round of talks to work out a disengagement of troops from tense areas.
Such discussions have created protocols to avoid clashes, but have done little to nothing to resolve the larger issue.
India and China have withdrawn troops from some areas on the northern and southern banks of Pangong Tso, Gogra and the Galwan Valley, but continue to maintain extra troops as part of a multitier deployment.
The so-called Line of Actual Control separates Chinese and Indian-held territories from Ladakh in the west to India’s eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims in its entirety.
As its name implies, the demarcation line divides the areas of physical control rather than territorial claims.
India and China fought a bloody month-long war over their border in 1962, and tensions have remained high in the region ever since, with the dispute at times fueling strong anti-China sentiment in India.
India says the de facto border is 3,488km long, although China promotes a considerably shorter figure.
China claims about 90,000 square kilometers of territory in India’s northeast, including Arunachal Pradesh with its mainly Buddhist population.
In the western sector, India says China occupies 38,000 square kilometers of its territory in the Aksai Chin Plateau, which India considers part of Ladakh, where the current face off is.
Li is visiting New Delhi to attend a defense chief meeting held yesterday by the Chinese and Russian-dominated Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
The group, formed to constrain US influence in the region, consists of China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
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