Chinese defence minister General Li Shangfu has asked his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh to take a “long-term view” of the ongoing border issue and place it at an “appropriate position in bilateral relations”, per a Chinese statement on Friday.
The statement by China’s Ministry of National Defence was released a day after Li met Indian defence minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi. On Friday, Li attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers’ Meeting chaired by Singh.
Situation Along LAC Remains 'Generally Stable'
General Li said that the border situation remained "generally stable and the two sides have maintained communication through military and diplomatic channels".
The Chinese defence minister further said in the meeting that the two sides should work together to “jointly contribute wisdom and strength to world and regional peace and stability”.
“Gen. Li said that as major neighboring countries and important developing countries, China and India share far more common interests than differences,” it said.
India Calls for ‘Peace and Tranquillity’ at the Border
According to a statement by the Indian defence ministry on Thursday, Singh “categorically conveyed” to his Chinese counterpart that “development of relations between India and China is premised on prevalence of peace and tranquillity at the borders.”
Singh reiterated New Delhi’s stance that violation of existing agreements (by China) has “eroded the entire basis of bilateral relations and disengagement at the border will logically be followed with de-escalation.”
Singh underscored the need to resolve the issues at the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the de-facto border between India and China, in accordance with existing bilateral agreements and commitments.
Ladakh Standoff
The meeting between the two defence ministers comes less than a week after 18th Corp Commander-level meeting between the military commanders of the Indian Army and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in the eastern Ladakh region.
According to Beijing, both the sides agreed to “speed up” the resolution of remaining issues in the eastern Ladakh region during the meeting.
For its part, New Delhi said that both the militaries have agreed to maintain “security and stability on the ground” in the eastern Ladakh region and “work out a mutually acceptable resolution” at the earliest.
Nearly 60,000 troops from India and China are embroiled in a standoff at two locations in the region — Depsang and Demchok.