New Delhi: National Security Advisor Ajit Doval has made it clear to China that tensions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) since 2020 had eroded strategic trust and the public and political basis of the relationship between two countries.
Wang Yi, member of the Communist Party of China’s (CPC) political bureau and director of the office of the CPC Central Committee’s Foreign Affairs Commission, who met Doval in Johannesburg Monday, called for what he termed as “concrete policies” to be implemented in the consensus in stabilising India-china ties.
He underlined that both sides should adhere to the strategic judgment made by two heads of State that “China and India pose no threat but offer development opportunities for each other”.
Wang was referring to the outcome of a meeting held between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in India in 2019.
However, it in May 2020 Chinese troops violated the agreements at the LAC and transgressed into Indian territories which has led to tensions between both the countries since.
Doval who met with Wang on the sidelines of the BRICS NSA meet, emphasised the importance of continuing efforts to fully resolve the situation and restore peace and tranquillity in the border areas, so as to remove impediments to normalcy in bilateral relations.
The two sides agreed that the India-China bilateral relationship is significant not only for the two countries, but also for the region and world, a statement released by the Ministry of External Affairs said.
In its own statement, China sought to blame India for the ongoing border tensions, saying Wang encouraged “both countries” to enhance strategic mutual trust, focus on consensus and cooperation, and promote bilateral ties back to a healthy and stable development path as soon as possible.
The statement also quote him as saying that China-India relations affect the world at large.
‘Willing to work with China to normalise ties’
China will never seek hegemony, and stands ready to work with developing countries, including India, to support multilateralism and the democratisation of international relations, and promote the more just and equitable development of international order, the statement by China said.
State-run Chinese news agency Xinhua meanwhile quoted Doval as saying that India and China share broad common interests.
It also quoted Doval as saying that India is willing to work with China, in the spirit of mutual understanding and mutual respect, to find a fundamental solution to the border issues and improve the bilateral relations in a timely manner, so as to make positive contributions to world peace and prosperity.
Sources in the Indian defence and security establishment also told ThePrint said that India is willing to work with China to bring back the ties to normalcy but the ball is in China’s court, since it is the aggressor and changed the status quo along the LAC.
Incidentally, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar had also met with Wang earlier this month.
While Jaishankar had tweeted about the meeting saying he had discussed the border issues, there was no statement from the MEA about it.
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
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