Beijing strictly following India ties: China

China on Monday said it is strictly abiding by the relevant agreements with India and conducts normal border patrols to safeguard its sovereignty. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun made the remarks when asked about his Indian counterpart’s statement that the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) is disturbed from time to time when Chinese forces diverge from established patrolling patterns.

“China strictly abides by the relevant agreements and common understandings reached between the two countries, and conducts normal border patrol and control activities to safeguard its territorial sovereignty and stability in the border areas,” Guo told a media briefing here.

He said China and India maintain communication through diplomatic and military channels.”We hope that India will work with China in the same direction by jointly implementing the common understandings reached between the two sides and maintaining peace and tranquility in the border areas with concrete actions,” Guo said.

Last week, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the situation along the LAC is disturbed from time to time when Chinese forces diverge from established patrolling patterns, asserting that the maintenance of peace and tranquillity in the border areas is essential for the overall development of bilateral relations.

His remarks came in response to a question on comments by Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) director general Shatrujeet Kapur that confrontations with Chinese troops continue to take place in a number of sites along the border in Arunachal Pradesh.

“Both sides continue to use existing diplomatic and military mechanisms to resolve outstanding issues and avoid misunderstanding and miscalculation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC),” Jaiswal said. India and China rolled out a series of measures in the last one year to rebuild their relationship after it came under severe strain following the deadly Galwan Valley clashes in 2020 and the subsequent military face-off that lasted for over four years.

Last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held bilateral talks with President Xi Jinping on the margins of the BRICS summit in New Delhi.

In the talks, Modi stressed that both sides must show sensitivity to each other’s core issues and let relations be guided by the “three mutuals” — mutual respect, mutual sensitivity, and mutual interest.