Border peace must for smooth ties, India tells China

NEW DELHI: India on Wednesday responded to Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s remarks that the Doklam standoff put “severe pressure” on bilateral ties by saying that the two sides should consider each other’s concerns while dealing with differences.

According to a statement issued by the Chinese foreign ministry on Tuesday, Wang had told his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj in unusually blunt remarks that “lessons should be learnt” from the standoff so that such incidents are not repeated. Wang was also quoted as saying that bilateral ties during 2017 were “not very satisfactory”.

A statement by the Union external affairs ministry on Wednesday acknowledged the 73-day face-off between Indian and Chinese troops near the Sikkim border had figured in talks between Swaraj and Wang on Monday and both leaders had “noted the challenge it had posed to the relationship” and “expressed satisfaction that it was resolved with the disengagement of troops at the face-off site through concerted diplomatic communications.”

The statement said external affairs minister Swaraj had underlined the need to approach differences between the two sides “with due consideration to each other’s sensitivities and concerns”.

She recalled the consensus between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping when they met on the margins of the SCO summit in Astana earlier this year “on the need to work together to ensure that our differences do not become disputes”.