India, China ‘not firing single bullet’ over border unrest shows maturity: PM Modi

PM spoke about disputed Doklam border area in Bhutan, where intense tension prevailed between Indian and Chinese troops for over two months and was later resolved in August 2017 when both agreed to withdraw their troops.

AFP image/ File

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an email interview to an English daily Hindustan Times spoke about the current state of relationship between India and neighbouring China and said that “They have a border dispute but the fact that they have not fired a single bullet at each other in last four decades shows their maturity”. PM spoke about disputed Doklam border area in Bhutan, where intense tension prevailed between Indian and Chinese troops for over two months and was later resolved in August 2017 when both agreed to withdraw their troops. PM asserted that in spite of the occasional incidents of standoffs at the border areas due to varied perceptions about the actual Line of Actual Control, both countries have always managed to resolve these differences via dialogues through diplomatic channels. “I have met President Xi Jinping a number of times over the last four years. In recent months, we have added a new dimension to our engagement in the form of the Informal Summit in Wuhan in April 2018. It allowed us to interact in a very free and candid atmosphere to understand each other’s concerns without being forced into a diplomatic straightjacket” PM said. “We have been meeting regularly on the sidelines of multilateral summits as well. Such frequent interactions and close communication have been very useful in building mutual trust at the leadership level and allowing it to percolate to other levels. We look forward to receiving President Xi in India in the coming year for our next informal summit” PM added.