China said it hoped for progress with India on their border dispute after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Newsweek the situation needed be to addressed urgently.
Military tensions are high along the 2,100 miles of the disputed border, known as the Line of Actual Control, between the two giant Asian nuclear powers, with India having overtaken China as the world’s most populous country last year. Both countries continue to build infrastructure and reinforce troops in the mountainous region, where a deadly clash erupted between their soldiers in June 2020.
India has grown increasingly close to the United States, which sees it as a counterweight to China.
Modi addressed the dispute in an exclusive interview with Newsweek published on Wednesday.
“For India, the relationship with China is important and significant. It is my belief that we need to urgently address the prolonged situation on our borders so that the abnormality in our bilateral interactions can be put behind us,” Modi said.
“Stable and peaceful relations between India and China are important for not just our two countries but the entire region and world. I hope and believe that through positive and constructive bilateral engagement at the diplomatic and military levels, we will be able to restore and sustain peace and tranquility in our borders.”
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a news briefing in Beijing that “China noted Prime Minister Modi’s remarks.”
The relationship between India and China was about more than the boundary situation, she said.
“China and India maintain close communication through diplomatic and military channels on handling issues related to the border situation and have made positive progress,” she said. “We hope that India will work with China, approach the bilateral relations from a strategic height and long-term perspective, keep building trust and engaging in dialogue and cooperation, and seek to handle differences appropriately to put the relationship on a sound and stable track.”
Photo by Money SHARMA / AFP
The dispute dates from the colonial era when India’s then-ruler, Britain, attempted to demarcate a border between Tibet and northeastern India. China never recognized that line and the People’s Republic of China took control of Tibet in 1950.
The two countries fought a war in 1962 in which India came off badly and China took control of Aksai Chin, a desert region that India says is its own.
China, meanwhile, claims Arunachal Pradesh, a region which it refers to as part of South Tibet. But Arunachal Pradesh has been administered by India since independence and is recognized as an Indian state, operating under Indian governance and legal systems.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.