India tells to China line troop pullback required for better ties

India has told China that their bilateral relations will only develop when both countries pull their troops back from a confrontation on their disputed Himalayan border, the Indian secretary of state said.

Subrahmanyam Jaishankar discussed the likelihood of each side when he met his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, on the sidelines of a regional conference in Dushanbe on Thursday.

“Discussed disengagement in our border areas. Underlined that progress during this regard is important for the restoration of peace and tranquillity, which is that the basis for the development of bilateral ties,” Jaishankar said on Twitter.

Thousands of Indian and Chinese soldiers are locked during a confrontation within the western Himalayas since last year when animosity over a decades-old border dispute blew up.

In June last year, tension erupted into hand-to-hand fighting leading to deaths on each side, the primary between them in decades.

After several rounds of talks between their commanders, their forces have stepped back on some sections of the border, including the Pangong Tso lake, a contested area near the location of last year’s clashes.

But troops backed by artillery remain dug in in close proximity in other sectors.

“China has always handled the China-India border issue properly and with a positive attitude,” Wang said.

“[Both sides should] work together to take care of peace and tranquillity within the border areas and stop border incidents from recurring.”

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As two major emerging economies, China and India should push bilateral ties back to a healthy and stable track, a press release from the Chinese foreign ministry cited Wang as saying.

China and India visited war over their border in 1962 and haven’t resolved the dispute. Even so, in recent years, trade ties have flourished.

Jaishankar said he also discussed recent global events with Wang. He didn’t explain .

Jaishankar also said India-China relations should be seen in bilateral terms. “It is additionally essential that China doesn’t view its relations with India through the lens of a 3rd country,” he said he told Wang.

The two top officials are in Dushanbe for a gathering of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are thanks to speak at the gathering through video link afterward Friday.