India border situation stable, won’t brook 3rd party ‘interference’: China

NEW DELHI: China continues to insist that the border situation is “ overall stable” despite repeated assertions by India that bilateral ties will not see normalcy till the time disengagement along the LAC in eastern Ladakh is completed in the remaining areas.

Responding to remarks by US secretary of defence Lloyd Austin during his visit to India in which he slammed Beijing for “bullying and coercion”, the Chinese embassy here said the border standoff with India is a bilateral issue and will brook no “interference” by any third coun try, while also claiming that China was a contributor to world peace and prosperity.

According to foreign minister S Jaishankar, the real issue between India and China right now is not whether or not the border is stable but that there’s an “abnormal position” in the border areas. After a meeting with his counterpart Qin Gang on the margins of the S CO foreign ministers’ meeting in Goa, whichagain saw China describing the border situation as stable, Jaishankar had clearly stated that China’s position that everything else can continue, while the main problems remain unaddr essed, was unacceptable to India. “It’s the US, not China, who resorts to all types of measures for coercion and hegemony. Victims of US coercion and bullying include its allies and partners, with developing countries bearing the brunt of it,” said Chinese embassy spokesperson Wang Xiaojing.

Austin, who addressed a press meet after holding a bilateral meeting with defence minister Rajnath Singh on Monday, talked about a rapidly changing world and transnational challenges, while highlighting the significance of India-US military exercises.
“We see bullying and coercion from China, Russian aggression against Ukraine that seeks to redraw borders by force and threatens national sovereignty as well as transnational challenges such as terr orism and climate change,” he said.