China, India border 'confrontation' reports dismissed
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E-mail China Daily, September 15, 2015
Beijing dismissed reports of a border standoff between Chinese and Indian troops on Monday, asking for clarification from the Indians.
According to Indian media, troops from the two countries faced off on the Sino-Indian border after the Indo-Tibetan Border Police and Indian army reportedly demolished a surveillance structure being erected by the People's Liberation Army inside the Line of Actual Control.
"As far as I know, there is no so-called 'confrontation' in the border area of China and India," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said at a daily news conference in Beijing.
Hong said China's frontier forces have always conducted activities within the Chinese side of the LAC, and China has been committed to maintaining border peace.
"We hope the Indians can offer clarification on these issues," Hong said, calling for joint efforts with India to create a favorable environment for developing relations.
China and India share a 2,000 kilometer border that has never been formally delineated. The countries began discussing border issues in the 1980s.
The area in Ladakh, which reportedly has been reinforced by both sides,was also where the PLA and Indian forces were locked in a three-week-long stalemate in April 2013.
Sun Shihai, director of the Chinese Association for South Asian Studies, said Beijing and New Delhi have been taking steps to cool border problems, especially after President Xi Jinping's visit to India in September last year.
"Neither China nor India wants to see any confrontation or tension on the border. And we have only seen, occasionally, small-scale incidents in recent years," Sun said, adding that both sides are unwilling to let border issues affect the development of their relationship.
Last month, Chinese and Indian officers had a meeting at a new point at the LAC, one of two new meeting points along the border, which now has five designated meeting points.
Defense Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun said at a news conference that this helped to strengthen communication between the militaries and enhance mutual trust, thus avoiding the risk of misjudgment.
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