India, China border stand off, that cast a shadow on Xi’s visit, ends
01/10/2014
NEW DELHI: The border stand-off between India and China that cast a shadow over Xi Jinping’s visit to India recently is said to have ended on Tuesday with Beijing announcing withdrawal of troops from the disputed area.
The announcement from Beijing came late on Tuesday night, hours before China was to go on a week-long holiday its annual National Day holidays; this year, the 65th year.
The statement was put out by Xinhua, the government’s official news agency, and it spoke for India as well.
It did not share geographical details about where the troops from India and China had a stand-off.
“China and India have completed the withdrawal of troops from a standoff at the border on Tuesday,” Xinhua said, quoting the foreign ministry of China.
The announcement also came while Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in the United States on an official visit and sundry reports have swirled about India-China-US relations.
Modi said in a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations in the US that China and India do not need third party arbitration to resolve bilateral dispute.
“The two sides have reached a consensus on properly resolving the recent standoff between the frontier defense troops at the border between the two countries,” the Chinese foreign ministry said.
“On September 30, the frontier defense troops of the two countries completed simultaneous withdrawal according to the steps formulated by the two sides and restored peace and tranquility in the area,” the ministry said.
The statement added that the two sides would “continue to communicate on issues relating to maintaining peace and tranquility of the border areas through the China-India border consultation and coordination mechanism”.
According to the foreign ministry, both sides understand that friendly cooperation conforms with their common interests and peaceful and tranquil borders are important for the growth of bilateral relations.
“The two sides have the determination, wisdom and capability to jointly maintain peace and stability of the border areas to create a sound environment for the expansion of bilateral relations,” the statement said.
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