India Committed to Maintain Peace & Tranquility Along Border With China : MEA

New Delhi : Just a few days after the incidents of tension on the border between Indian and Chinese troops, India on Thursday said that it is committed to maintain peace and stability along the border with China and having a common understanding of the border, such events could have been avoided.

On May 5, a conflict situation between about 250 soldiers from India and China arose when clashes and stone pelting took place between the two sides near Pangong Tso Lake in eastern Ladakh. Four days later, a similar incident was observed near Nakula Pass in North Sikkim. External Affairs Ministry spokesman Anurag Shrivastava said that India and China attach great importance to maintaining peace in the border areas of both countries and this was also confirmed in two informal summits between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“As a result, there has been peace on the Indo-China border, although different understanding of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) sometimes leads to conflict situations,” he said. These could have been avoided if there was equal understanding of the boundary between the two sides.” Srivastava said that mechanisms have been developed to deal with certain situations if they arise.

The spokesman said that the Indian side is committed to maintaining peace and stability along the India-China border. At the same time, when asked about the latest developments, Army Chief General MM Narwane said that the Indian Army is maintaining its stand on the border with China and the development of infrastructure in the region is also going in the right direction. He said, “The two incidents in East Ladakh and North Sikkim are the result of aggressive behavior on both sides, causing minor injuries to the troops stationed at the post.” The two sides resolved this through dialogue at the local level. ”

When asked about the conflict between the Indo-Chinese soldiers, the army chief told reporters that both these incidents have nothing to do with any global or local activities. He said the two sides sort out all such incidents based on established protocols and the strategic guidelines that were prepared on the basis of the Wuhan and Mamallapuram summits. The army chief said that Indian border troops always maintain peace and stability in the border areas.

The India-China border dispute is over the 3,488 km long Line of Actual Control (LAC). This is the undisclosed border between the two countries. China claims that Arunachal Pradesh is a part of southern Tibet, while India has been refuting it. Both sides say that it is necessary to maintain peace in the border areas till the boundary issue is resolved.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Xi Jinping held the first informal talks in the Chinese city of Wuhan in April 2018, a few months after the Doklam standoff. During the talks, the two leaders decided that they would issue “strategic guidance” to their armies to strengthen the dialogue so as to build trust and understanding. The second informal summit between Modi and Xi took place in Mamallapuram near Chennai in October last year with an emphasis on making bilateral relations more comprehensive.