Ready to work with India towards steady bilateral relations: Wang Yi

The statement came at a time when the border dispute between both countries is continuing for more than two years now and soldiers on both sides have even lost their lives in occasional scuffles.

“China and India have maintained communication through the diplomatic and military-to-military channels, and both countries are committed to upholding stability in the border areas,” Wang, who is a member of the Communist party’s Politburo and a state councilor, said at a symposium on “International Situation and China’s Foreign Relations”.

The speech was released by the foreign ministry of China on Sunday.

“We stand ready to work with India in the direction toward steady and sound growth of China-India relations,” he said in a brief mention of the state of India-China ties, which have plunged to their lowest in decades since May 2020.

The scuffle between the armies of both nations is as recent as 9 December, when many members of the Indian and Chinese armies were injured in hand-to-hand fighting. The incident occurred in the Tawang sector of Arunachal Pradesh which is thousands of kilometers away from the Ladakh sector, where the bloody fight took place two years ago, killing around 20 Indian soldiers.

“There was hand-to-hand fighting between Chinese and Indian troops on December 9. Indian troops stopped PLA (People’s Liberation Army) troops from entering our territory,” defense minister Rajnath Singh told Parliament recently.

The Indian and Chinese delegations have held several rounds of negotiations which have also resulted in disengagement from many sensitive areas, but the recent scuffle has raised suspicions again.