NEW DELHI: Reaching out to New Delhi after raising tensions in eastern Ladakh to a fever pitch, China on Thursday said it was ready to work with India to properly deal with the military standoff, and asked it to meet halfway, asserting that “suspicion and friction” was a wrong path that goes against the fundamental aspirations of people of the two countries.
In an interview to PTI, Chinese Ambassador Sun Weidong said India and China are able to properly manage their differences, but at the same time put the onus on New Delhi to ease the tension, and called upon it to avoid taking actions that may “complicate” the situation in eastern Ladakh.
“We hope the Indian side meets the Chinese side halfway, avoids taking actions that may complicate the border situation and takes concrete actions to maintain stability in the border areas,” he said and went on to add that at present, the overall situation in the China-India border areas is “stable and controllable.”
The Indian and Chinese armies are locked in a bitter standoff in multiple locations in eastern Ladakh for the last six weeks, and the tension escalated manifold after 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a violent clash in Galwan Valley on June 15.
The Chinese ambassador said “mutual respect and support” is a sure way and meets the long-term interests of both countries, but asserted that the onus was not on China to ease tensions in the region.
“China and India are both large developing countries and emerging economies with more than one billion people, and both have the historic mission of realising our own development and revitalisation,” he said.
“The onus is not on China. The Indian side crossed the LAC (Line of Actual Control) for provocation and attacked the Chinese border troops. The Indian forces seriously violated agreements on border issues between the two countries,” he said.
In the course of the interview, Sun repeated the Chinese government’s stand — which has been rejected by India — that Indian troops are responsible for the Galwan Valley clashes, and indicated that the onus was on India to improve the situation in eastern Ladakh.
Emphasising that the path of “suspicion and friction” was wrong and goes against the fundamental aspiration of the two peoples, the ambassador said,”China and India are willing and able to properly manage differences.”
Under the guidance of the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, “we are ready to work with the Indian side to properly deal with the current situation, jointly uphold peace and stability in the border areas, and ensure a sound and steady development of bilateral relations.” (PTI)
