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India, China moved away from emergency response on border, claims Chinese envoy
Chinese ambassador Sun Weidong reiterated China’s position that issues which cannot be immediately resolved should be put in a “proper place”. India has made it clear that the overall relationship cannot be normalised till there is peace and tranquillity on the border
NEW DELHI: The situation on the India-China border is “overall stable” and the two sides have moved from the “emergency response” that followed the clash in Galwan Valley in June 2020 to “normalised management and control”, Chinese ambassador Sun Weidong has contended.
Sun made the remarks at a virtual event held on Tuesday to mark the 73rd anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, during which he reiterated the Chinese side’s assertion that issues which cannot be immediately resolved should be put in a “proper place”, without allowing them to disturb the overall development of bilateral ties.
There was no immediate response from Indian officials to the remarks, which were released to the media on Wednesday. However, the Chinese ambassador’s comments go against the Indian side’s position that the overall relationship cannot be normalised till there is peace and tranquillity on the border.
Earlier this month, external affairs minister S Jaishankar said India-China relations are going through an “extremely difficult phase” because of Beijing’s actions on the border and it will be difficult to have an Asian century if the two countries don’t come together.
Sun said during his speech that China-India relations “have made new progress and shown positive momentum” this year. He also called on the Indian side to “properly handle issues related to China’s core interests”, including the “Taiwan question” and Xizang or Tibet-related issues.
“The current border situation is overall stable. The phase of emergency response since the Galwan Valley incident has basically come to an end, and the border situation is now switching to normalised management and control,” he said, referring to the clash at Galwan Valley two years ago that killed 20 Indian soldiers and at least four Chinese troops.
The Chinese side is willing to maintain dialogue via diplomatic and military channels and “together seek solution to the border issues in a peaceful manner through dialogue and consultation”, he said.
India and China have withdrawn frontline troops from the two banks of Pangong Lake, Gogra and Hot Springs after more than two dozen rounds of diplomatic and military talks. However, there has been no forward movement on other friction points such as Demchok and Depsang.
