4/30/2023 – | Last updated: 4/30/2023 02:39 PM (Makkah Al-Mukarramah)
The French newspaper Le Monde said that the mutual dialogue that took place between Chinese Defense Ministers Li Shangfu and Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi on the eve of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting was very tense, during which the two sides avoided shaking hands.
The newspaper stated, in a report by its correspondent in New Delhi, Sophie Landrin, that the Indian minister, who described the talks as "frank", said that "the violation of existing agreements between the two countries has eroded the entire basis of bilateral relations."
His ministry also said in a statement that he had "conclusively shown that the development of Indo-Chinese relations depends on the rule of peace and tranquility on the borders" between the two countries.
As for Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu, he made it clear that China does not have the same reading of trade and conflict, and he replied that the situation on the borders seemed "generally stable" to him and that bilateral relations should be separated from the border conflict.
"The two sides should adopt a long-term view, and put the border issue in its proper place in the bilateral relations between the two countries," said a statement from the Chinese delegation.
For its part, the Indian press, which saw in the meeting an opportunity to "de-escalate" and "disengage", commented that the discussions that took place at the meeting refer to two contradictory positions of the two parties on the issue of borders.
The "Le Monde" correspondent stated that 18 rounds of military negotiations failed about 3 years ago to reduce tension between the two countries, which share 3,500 km of border, and that the disengagement remained partially, with more forces being sent from both sides to the border.
The newspaper pointed out that Indian military experts confirm that China has not stopped invading Indian lands since 2020, and that the Chinese People's Liberation Army continues its attack with regular incursions into various states along the border. Indeed, the Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs published a list renaming a number of regions in both languages. Chinese and Tibetan are accompanied by a map integrating the Indian territories into Tibet.
She said that the Americans are closely following the development of the border conflict between the two Asian giants, and confirm the progress of the Chinese forces, which have built many infrastructures and villages near the borders.
She also indicated that the US Senate adopted a resolution declaring that the McMahon Line drawn by the British colonialists in 1914, which Beijing considers illegal, is the international border between China and India, and that the state of Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India.
