China has strongly pitched for a final settlement of the boundary dispute with India through dialogue, saying the time has come to ensure that there were no more military stand-offs between the two countries along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
Referring to the deadly clash between Indian and Chinese troops at the Galwan Valley on 15 June last year, Chinese Ambassador to India Sun Weidong admitted that every time such an incident occurred, the bilateral relationship was pushed back by years. These remarks were made by the Chinese envoy in a virtual dialogue Sun had with Sudheendra Kulkarni, media commentator and a close aide to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, on Friday. The Chinese Embassy today released the text of the dialogue.
Sun said the recent disengagement between Indian and Chinese troops at the Pangong Tso Lake was conducive to building trust and further easing the situation on the ground.
“Against this backdrop, we should implement the consensus reached by the two leaders (of the two countries) and strictly abide by the existing agreements, step up dialogue and communication, and improve the border management and control mechanisms to further ease, stabilise and control the border situation, avoid relapse and jointly safeguard peace and tranquility in the border areas,’’ he added.
The lesson of last year’s border dispute (Galwan clash) was profound and such incident should not be repeated.
“We should jointly run in the marathon of development for good results. We should encourage each other and give a helping hand when we encounter obstacles and challenges. The least we want to see China and India are in a boxing ring to fight with each other and undercut each other. That is not in the interests of either side,” he added.