New Delhi:
China warned on Thursday that a “forced decoupling” of its economy with India, following a clash in eastern Ladakh’s Galwan Valley last month in which 20 Indian soldiers died in the line of duty, would hurt both countries. The Chinese ambassador said China was not a strategic threat to India and that the “general structure that we can’t live without each other remains unchanged”.
The statement came after the Central government’s recent moves to ban Chinese applications, even as the de-facto border, the Line of Actual Control, remains tense.
“China advocates win-win cooperation and opposes a zero-sum game,” Ambassador Sun Weidong wrote on Twitter.
“Our economies are highly complementary, interwoven and interdependent. Forced decoupling is against the trend and will only lead to a ‘lose-lose’ outcome,” he added.
Officials say Chinese troops have intruded on to India’s territory in the remote western region. China, however, claims it has not breached the LAC.
The Ministry of External Affairs said in an online briefing that a troops disengagement process as agreed by the two sides had yet to be completed, and that another round of commander-level talks would be held soon.
“We expect that the Chinese side will sincerely work with us for complete disengagement and de-escalation and full restoration of peace and tranquillity in the border areas at the earliest,” spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said.
Diplomatic and military officials of the nuclear-armed neighbours have been talking regularly to de-escalate the standoff after the June 15 clash in the Galwan Valley, in which over 40 Chinese soldiers also died.
Earlier this month, China and India started the disengagement process, pulling back troops from the Line of Actual Control.
This was after National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who had a telephonic conversation, agreed that both sides should “strictly respect and observe” the Line of Actual Control.
Sources have told NDTV that Chinese troops are still present in some areas.
China and India fought a brief border war in 1962. – Reuters
