‘We’ll find a way’: Chinese envoy hopeful India-China will bury the hatchet, ‘overcome current difficulties’

Chinese Ambassador to India Sun Weidong on Monday expressed hope that both countries will adhere to the consensus and “find a way to overcome current difficulties”.

Key Highlights

• Weidong said that the two sides must “expedite work to conclude new confidence building measures to maintain and enhance peace and tranquility in border areas”

• He stated that “the imperative is to immediately stop provocations” along the border, such as firing and “other dangerous actions that violate the commitments made by the two sides”

New Delhi: A week after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Moscow, many are hopeful that there could be a silver lining in the strained bilateral ties between India and China over troop build-up along the Line of Actual Control.

While the Chinese People’s Liberation Army continues to make provocative advancements towards the Indian side of the international border near eastern Ladakh, the ‘5-point consensus’ agreed upon by the two ministers appears to be the first concrete agreement between the two countries since the border conflict began in April.

Chinese Ambassador to India Sun Weidong on Monday expressed hope that both countries will adhere to the consensus and “find a way to overcome current difficulties”.

“I believe that as long as two sides implement consensus reached by Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and EAM Jaishankar to front-line troops and adhere to correct means of dialogue and negotiation, we’ll find a way to overcome current difficulties,” Weidong said in New Delhi.

He said that the two sides must “expedite work to conclude new confidence building measures to maintain and enhance peace and tranquility in the border areas”.

“We need peace instead of confrontation; we need to pursue win-win cooperation instead of zero-sum game; we need trust rather than suspicion; we need to move our relationship forward rather than backward,” he said.

Stating that “the imperative is to immediately stop provocations” along the border, such as firing and “other dangerous actions that violate the commitments made by the two sides”, the Chinese Ambassador said that “it is important to move back all personnel and equipment that have trespassed”.

“The Chinese side supports enhanced dialogue between the frontier troops on both sides to solve specific issues, and will stay in touch with the Indian side through diplomatic and military channels,” he added.