Chinese FM urges closer China-India communication to maintain border peace

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi suggested on Wednesday that China and India strengthen communication and coordination on properly addressing the border situation and jointly maintain the peace and tranquility in the border areas.

In a telephone conversation with Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, Wang said that Indian frontline border defense troops on Monday night blatantly broke the consensus reached at the commander-level talks between the militaries of the two sides. Under the circumstance that the current situation in the Galwan Valley has eased, the Indian troops once again crossed the Line of Actual Control for deliberate provocation, and even violently attacked the Chinese officers and soldiers who went to the terrain for negotiation, thus triggering fierce physical conflicts and causing casualties.

The hazardous move of the Indian army severely violated the agreement reached between the two countries on the border issue and the basic norms of international relations, he said, while voicing China's strong opposition to the move of the Indian side.

China demands that India carry out a thorough investigation into the incident, severely punish those who should be held accountable, strictly discipline Indian frontline troops, and immediately stop all provocative actions so as to ensure that such incidents do not happen again, Wang said, adding that India must not misjudge the current situation, or underestimate China's firm will to safeguard its territorial sovereignty.

He stressed that China and India, both emerging powers with a population of over 1 billion, bear the historic mission of accelerating their own development and rejuvenation.

Hence, acts of mutual respect and mutual support are on the right track and conform to the long-term interests of both countries, whereas those of mutual distrust and friction belong to an evil path and go against the fundamental aspiration of the two peoples, Wang said.

He suggested that China and India follow important consensuses reached by the leaders of the two countries and leverage such existing channels as meetings between the two countries' special representatives on the boundary issue and meetings between border troops of both sides.

Jaishankar briefed Wang on the stance of India. He expressed the willingness to set out from the overall situation of bilateral relations to carry out with the Chinese side the consensus reached between leaders of both countries to peacefully resolve the situation in the border areas through dialogue.

Both sides agreed to address the serious situation provoked by clashes in the Galwan Valley impartially and abide by the consensus reached at the commander-level talks between the two militaries to cool down the situation at an early date and safeguard the peace and tranquility in the border areas in accordance with the signed agreement. 

Editor: John Li