China says India border conflict ‘not the entirety’ of relations, steady ties benefit both

Chinese foreign ministry comment comes after India’s Narendra Modi in interview to Newsweek urges end to ‘abnormality in bilateral interactions’
The two sides have held regular diplomatic and military-level talks to defuse tensions after deadly 2020 clash along disputed Himalayan border

China-India relations

Meredith Chen

Published: 9:32pm, 11 Apr 2024

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The border conflict is only one part of relations with India, China said, after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on both sides to “urgently address” their prolonged border disputes.

Sound and steady ties are in the interests of both China and India, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Thursday.

“The border issue is not the entirety of China-India relations, and it should be appropriately managed and controlled in a proper position within the framework of China-India relations,” ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said.

She added that the two countries had maintained close communication through diplomatic and military channels and positive progress had been made.

Mao’s remarks came after US magazine Newsweek on Wednesday published an interview with Modi where he said: “It is my belief that [India and China] need to urgently address the prolonged situation on our borders so that the abnormality in our bilateral interactions can be put behind us.”

The disputed Himalayan frontier between the two neighbours has been a sore point in bilateral ties for decades, and sparked a brief but bloody war in 1962.

The deadliest clash since then broke out in 2020 in the Galwan Valley, in India’s eastern Ladakh region along the contested 3,440km (2,100-mile) de facto border, known as the Line of Actual Control (LAC). At least 20 Indian and four Chinese troops were killed.

The two sides have since staged regular exercises in the region and built up troops and infrastructure, but have also held regular diplomatic and military-level talks to defuse tensions.

The latest diplomatic border talks were held late last month, when both sides agreed to “reach a solution acceptable to both sides as soon as possible”, and to promote the transition of the border situation “into a phase of normalised control”.

The 29th meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs, held in Beijing on March 27, also pledged to hold the next round of military commander-level talks at the earliest opportunity.

Unreported border clashes between Chinese, Indian troops took place in 2022

The 21st round of military commander-level talks held in late February had sought to negotiate a “complete disengagement” along the LAC, according to the Indian foreign ministry.

China’s Ministry of Defence said the commanders had agreed to look for a mutually acceptable solution “at the earliest possible time” and to “turn the page” – echoing language used during separate talks last November.

Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping had a rare face-to-face meeting last August on the sidelines of a Brics summit in Johannesburg, where they agreed to “intensify efforts” to de-escalate tensions at their contested border.