Involvement of third parties in India-China relations may not be helpful for solving the border dispute between the two sides, said Ma Jia, China’s Chargé d’affaires ad interim in New Delhi, on Wednesday.
Addressing a media briefing, the seniormost official in the Chinese Embassy said that neither China nor India desired conflict over the issue and that the two sides “have to talk”. She also said that China was not against regional groupings that were helpful for economic growth of the countries but that Beijing was opposed to the Quad because the grouping is aimed at “containing” China.
“The border issue between India and China is a bilateral issue. We think our two countries have the wisdom to resolve this issue and we can properly handle that. We do not invite any other (country), especially from other regions to interfere in this bilateral dispute,” said Ms. Ma responding to a question from The Hindu on intelligence cooperation between India and the United States that reportedly helped India avert a military stand-off with China last year in the eastern sector in Tawang.
The situation in the Line of Actual Control (LAC) has been a cause for concern since the Galwan conflict of June 2020 when at least 20 Indian soldiers were killed in the Galwan valley in eastern Ladakh.
The two sides have since held seventeen rounds of commanders-level talks and subsequently the Chinese side withdrew from Patrolling Point (PP) 15 in Gogra-Hot Springs region of eastern Ladakh last September, but these moves have not normalised relations till now.
Ms. Ma did not respond to a query asking if the intelligence sharing between the U.S. and India was a clear sign of close military ties between the two sides, especially in the context of the Quad. “We just oppose those regional groupings that are composed for the purpose of geopolitical intentions for the containment of China,” said the envoy.
The envoy highlighted China’s support for India’s G20 presidency saying that India had played a “crucial role” to highlight important global financial and economic problems in the G20.
The situation at Line of Actual Control (LAC) has been a cause for concern since the Galwan conflict of June 2020 when at least 20 Indian soldiers were killed in the Galwan valley in eastern Ladakh. The two sides have since held seventeen rounds of talks and subsequently the Chinese side withdrew from Patrolling Point (PP) 15 in Gogra-Hot Springs region of eastern Ladakh last September, but these moves have not normalised relations till now.
Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to visit New Delhi in the coming months to participate in the summits of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and the G20, though the envoy refused to confirm his presence in the events. She did not rule out high-level meetings and, in response to a question on the possibilities of an “informal summit” between the leaders of India and China, said, “It requires some kind of atmosphere - the readiness from two sides. It depends on lot of factors. Let us look forward to that.”
The envoy slammed the AUKUS (Australia-U.K.-U.S.) security alliance as a reflection of “typical Cold War mentality which will “seriously impact the regional security situation”.
