Top leaders of India and China are keen on preserving peace along the border and are making efforts to overcome the trust deficit between their respective militaries, Chief of Army Staff General Upendra Dwivedi said.
"The top leadership, including prime minister, defence and foreign ministers, have met in the last few months” and there is a strong sense of urgency within the armed forces to maintain calm along the borders, Dwivedi said, according to a Bloomberg report.
The army chief's remarks underscore ongoing efforts by political leaders to mend relations that had deteriorated sharply after the deadliest border clash in decades in June 2020, which claimed the lives of several soldiers.
Thaw in India-China ties
Both sides have since agreed to withdraw troops from the remaining friction points, clearing the path for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to China last August, his first in seven years.
During recent engagements with Chinese officials, Indian representatives have emphasised that peace and stability along the 3,488-km disputed Himalayan border are key to restoring normal ties.
Following PM Modi’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping last year, a series of confidence-building steps were taken, including the resumption of direct flights between the two countries. These services, suspended during the Covid-19 pandemic and the border standoff, resumed in October.
The renewed engagement comes against the backdrop of US President Donald Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on both India and China, disrupting global trade flows. Indian exports to the US now face tariffs of up to 50%, among the highest levied, while Beijing and Washington have agreed to a tenuous truce on tariffs and export controls.
Dwivedi on Shaksgam Valley
Dwivedi on Tuesday reaffirmed India’s strong position on the Shaksgam Valley amid the ongoing controversy. He said that New Delhi views the 1963 agreement between Pakistan and China as “illegal”. Addressing a press conference, General Dwivedi reiterated the government’s stand, pointing out that the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has already issued a statement on the matter, according to ANI.
"Therefore, any activity in the Shaksgam Valley is concerned, we do not approve of it. And in these terms, MEA has already issued the statement. Therefore, the joint statement which has been issued in China, what I understand about the CPEC 2.0, we do not accept it, and we consider it an illegal action being carried out by the two nations,” he mentioned.
The Shaksgam Valley shares its northern boundary with China’s Xinjiang Province, lies adjacent to the northern areas of Pakistan-Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) to the south and west, and is bordered by the Siachen Glacier region to the east.
