Downplaying the ongoing border standoff with India, China on Wednesday termed the situation “overall stable and controllable”.
Talking to media persons, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said that the two countries have proper mechanisms and communication channels to resolve the issues through dialogue and consultation.
Referring to the two informal summits between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, he said, “We have been following the important consensus reached by the two leaders and strictly observing the agreements between the two countries,” he said.
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During these informal meets, Modi had Xi had asked the militaries of the two countries to take more confidence-building measures to maintain peace and tranquillity along the borders.
Zhao Lijian, however, added that China’s position on the border-related issues is clear and consistent.
“We are committed to safeguarding our territorial sovereignty and security, and safeguarding peace and stability in the border areas. Now the China-India border area situation is overall stable and controllable,” he added.
“Between the two countries, we have good border-related mechanism and communication channels. We are capable of resolving the issues properly through dialogue and consultation,” he added.
Zhao Lijian’s statement assumes significance as it comes a day after Xi Jinping ordered the military to scale up the battle preparedness, visualising the worst-case scenarios and asked it to resolutely defend the country’s sovereignty.
The nearly 3,500-km-long LAC is the de-facto border between the two countries.
Several areas along the LAC in Ladakh and North Sikkim have witnessed major military build-up by both the Indian and Chinese armies recently, in a clear signal of escalating tension and hardening of respective positions by the two sides even two weeks after they were engaged in two separate face-offs.
India has said the Chinese military was hindering normal patrolling by its troops along the LAC in Ladakh and Sikkim and strongly refuted Beijing’s contention that the escalating tension between the two armies was triggered by trespassing of Indian forces across the Chinese side.
The Ministry of External Affairs said all Indian activities were carried out on its side of the border, asserting that India has always taken a very responsible approach towards border management. At the same time, it said, India was deeply committed to protect its sovereignty and security.
“Any suggestion that Indian troops had undertaken activity across the LAC in the Western sector or the Sikkim sector is not accurate. Indian troops are fully familiar with the alignment of the Line of Actual Control in the India-China border areas and abide by it scrupulously,” MEA Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said at an online media briefing last week.
(With agency inputs)
