China and India should be partners, not rivals: Chinese ambassador to India

Chinese Ambassador to India H E Sun Weidong released a video message talking about the recent stand-off between the two countries in Galwan region of Ladakh. In his video, he said that there was an incident on June 15th on the India-China border causing casualties, which neither China nor India would like to see. He added that on July 5th, State Councilor and Foreign Minister of China Wang Yi and India's National Security Advisor Ajit Doval conversed over the phone and reached a positive consensus on easing the border situation.

He said that the "Chinese front line troops were disengaging from the ground in accordance with the consensus reached." He added that "in the backdrop of what happened in Galwan, some quarters in India raised doubts about the consensus reached by the leaders and have the wrong perception about the China-India ties. These have brought disruptions in bilateral relations. In this regard, it is imperative for us to clarify some fundamental points."

"First India and China should be partners rather than rivals. China and India have a history of friendly exchanges for more than 2,000 years. Friendly cooperation has dominated for most of the time. For both China and India, achieving development and revitalisation is top priority where we share long-term strategic interests. Since the 1990s, China and India have reached an important consensus that the two countries pose no threat to each other. During the Wuhan Informal Summit in 2018, President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi once again stressed that the two countries provide each other with development opportunities instead of posing threats which the two sides should adhere to. This is the fundamental judgment on China-India relations charting the course for the development of our bilateral relations," he said.

He continued, "I have noticed some emerging opinions in recent days, which repudiate the essence of China-India relationship due to the border-related incidents, make false assumptions about China's intentions, exaggerate conflicts and provoke confrontation and regard a close neighbour over thousands of years as 'enemies' and 'strategic threats'. It is not the fact. It is harmful indeed and not helpful. China and India have jointly advocated the five principals of peaceful coexistence and uphold independent foreign policies. We should naturally see each other as positive factor in the changing global landscape and as well as partners in realising our respective dream of development. China hopes itself will develop well and wishes India the same. only through the correct view of each other's intentions with a positive, open, and inclusive attitude we can ensure the stable and long-term development of bilateral relations and avoid any strategic miscalculations.

Weidong further said that China and India need peace rather than confrontation and that cooperation would benefit both, while confrontation would serve neither. He said that the two countries should not allow differences to interfere with bilateral relations. He added that since the boundary question has been left by history, it is now necessary to find a fair and reasonable solution that is acceptable to both through consultation and negotiations.

In the absence of the ultimate solution, both countries agreed to maintain peace and tranquility in the border area, he said. He further added that for China peace is of paramount importance. "We are neither a warlike state nor an assertive country. The right and wrong of the recent incident at the Glawan valley are very clear. China will firmly safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity and ensure peace and tranquility in the border areas."