With the stand-off in the Ladakh region resolved, China said on Friday that the two sides could now maintain peace and tranquillity in the border area and implement the consensus reached by the leaders to build a closer developmental partnership.
“The Indian Foreign Minister [Sushma Swaraj] said the dispute has effectively been managed and the border area is in tranquillity. So we believe with the concerted efforts with India, we can maintain peace and tranquillity in the border area,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said at a media briefing here.
She was replying to the announcement made by Ms. Swaraj in New York that the stand-off at Chumar, which started two weeks ago, had been resolved.
ADVERTISEMENT
Ms. Swaraj said withdrawal of troops from the area would begin on Friday and be completed by September 30.
Ms. Hua said with regard to the stand-off, the two sides had the willingness and sincerity to maintain peace and tranquillity.
“The two sides also have a working mechanism on the consultations over the border issue. The relevant people have effectively managed and controlled the incident through communication,” she said.
ADVERTISEMENT
There was a sense of relief here about the agreement reached by the two sides to end the stand-off as it took place during the key visit of President Xi Jinping to India.
As the two sides grappled to resolve the incident, China played it down saying that it was not a significant issue in the overall context of Sino-India relations.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Colonel Geng Yansheng said on Thursday that a stand-off like this took place because of differing perceptions of the border which was yet to be demarcated.