After India firmly told China that its violation of the border pacts has “eroded” the entire basis of bilateral ties, China’s defence ministry on Friday said the situation at the border is “generally stable” and both sides should put the boundary issue in an “appropriate position” and promote its transition to “normalised management”.
China’s defence minister General Li Shangfu, who is in New Delhi to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers conference, held a 45-minute-long meeting with his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh on Thursday during which the two ministers discussed the standoff at the eastern Ladakh area since May 2020.
A Chinese Defence Ministry statement issued here on Friday said that during the meeting the two sides exchanged views on militaries and bilateral relations.
Gen. Li pointed out that “currently, the situation on the China-India border is generally stable and the two sides have maintained communication through military and diplomatic channels”.
“The two sides should take a long-term view, place the border issue in an appropriate position in bilateral relations, and promote the transition of the border situation to normalised management,” he said.
“It is hoped that the two sides will work together to continuously enhance mutual trust between the two militaries and make proper contributions to the development of bilateral relations,” Li told Singh.
He said that as major neighbouring countries and important developing countries, China and India share far more common interests than differences.
“The two sides should view bilateral relations and each other’s development from a comprehensive, long-term and strategic perspective, and jointly contribute wisdom and strength to world and regional peace and stability”, he said.
The Indian government sources in New Delhi said Singh conveyed to Li that after disengagement in remaining friction points in eastern Ladakh, there should be a movement towards de-escalation and expressed hope for a “positive response”.
