China ready to seek mutually acceptable solution: Wang

Beijing: With India firmly conveying to China that the prolongation of the existing situation in eastern Ladakh was visibly impacting the bilateral ties in a "negative manner", Beijing on Thursday said it is ready to seek a mutually acceptable solution to the issues that require "emergency response" through negotiation and consultation.

During their hour-long in-person meeting on the sidelines of an SCO conclave in Dushanbe on Wednesday, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also told his Chinese counterpart and State Councilor Wang Yi that any unilateral change in the status quo along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) was "not acceptable" to India and that the overall ties can only develop after full restoration of peace and tranquillity in eastern Ladakh.

The meeting in Tajikistan's capital took place amidst a stalemate in the disengagement process between the two militaries in the remaining friction points in eastern Ladakh after they withdrew troops and weapons from the Pangong Lake areas in February following series of military and diplomatic talks to resolve the standoff since May last year.

In a statement posted on its website on Thursday on Wang's talks with Jaishankar, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said, the minister stated the overall situation in the border area has de-escalated after the withdrawal of troops from the Galwan Valley and Pangong Lake

areas. However, the relations between India and China are still at a low level which is not in the interest of either side, Wang said. While reiterating China's oft-repeated stand that it was not responsible for the China-India border standoff, Wang, however said that "China is ready to find a solution acceptable to both sides on the issue that needs emergency response through negotiation and consultation."

"The two sides must place the border issue in an appropriate position in bilateral relations, expand the positive momentum of bilateral cooperation and create favourable conditions for resolving differences through negotiation," he said.

The nature of China-India relations is how two adjacent developing countries look at each other, co-exist in harmony and help each other succeed, he said. "China's strategic assessment of China-India relations has not changed. China and India pose no threat but offer development opportunities to each other. The two countries are partners rather than rivals or enemies," the Chinese foreign minister said.

The principles of China-India relations should still be mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression, non-interference in each other's internal affairs, and mutual respect for each other's core interests,

he said.