Resolving border issue 'in common interest' of China and India: Chinese FM

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Wednesday that it is in the common interest of China and India to resolve the border issue as soon as possible, responding to a question related to claims by Indian officials that stationing of so many troops on the border is not in the common interest of both sides.

Wang said during the regular press conference that it is hoped that the two sides will find a mutually acceptable solution as soon as possible, in accordance with the consensus of the leaders of the two countries and the spirit of the relevant agreements.

According to a report from The Indian Express, India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said at a Monday event in New Delhi that he thinks it's in common interest that Line of Actual Control should not play host to that many forces, it's also in common interest that China and India should observe agreements that they have, and it's not just in common interest, he believes it is also in China's interest as well.

Wang said that China has also repeatedly emphasized that the border issue is not the whole of China-India relations, and should be properly managed in the appropriate position of China-India relations, and hoped that the Indian side and the Chinese side will move in the same direction, grasp the bilateral relations from a strategic height and take a long-term perspective, adhere to the enhancement of mutual trust, avoid misinterpretation and miscalculation, adhere to dialogue and cooperation, avoid artificial barriers, adhere to the appropriate handling of differences, avoid creating disputes, and then promote the relations of the two countries to move forward along a healthy and stable track.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry also responded to some recent remarks made by the Indian Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on the border issue, following Modi's visit to "Arunachal Pradesh", Wang said the area of Zangnan is Chinese territory.

The Chinese government has never recognized the so-called "Arunachal Pradesh" which has been illegally set up by India and is firmly opposed by China. The China-India boundary question has yet to be solved. India has no right to arbitrarily develop the area of Zangnan within Chinese territory.