China, India border 'confrontation' reports dismissed

An Indian soldier and a Chinese soldier stand side by side on the Sino-Indian border at Nathu La on July 9, 2006. [Photo/CFP]

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 rein­ forced 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 ameeting at anewpoint 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.