Beijing, New Delhi establish hotlines to defuse border tensions
Updated: 2014-10-21 07:08
By ZHANG YUNBI(China Daily)
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Beijing has praised the "strong" determination that both China and India showed in handling border problems, after the neighbors agreed to establish hotlines and hold regular military meetings to deal with the issue.
Both governments have made remarkable progress in recent years in defusing border tension, observers said.
The meeting reached a consensus on a range of measures and agreed to establish "regular meetings" involving the headquarters of the two militaries, adjacent combat units and border defense forces.
"A telephone hotline will be established between the two headquarters and a telecommunication liaison will be set up between the frontline forces of both countries," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in Beijing on Monday.
The meeting was held under the latest consensus reached by the countries' leaders.
During his visit to New Delhi in mid-September, President Xi Jinping reached an agreement with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to resolve border issues.
Xi highlighted that before a final settlement, the countries "should jointly manage differences, safeguard peace and tranquility of the border area and prevent the border question from holding up the development of bilateral relations".
Modi said India stands ready with China to manage any border issues and to accelerate negotiations.
Wang Yusheng, executive director of the Strategy Research Center of China International Studies Research Fund, said "the two countries now are both sober when considering these problems" and they both have decided to maintain peace and stability.
Such problems "do not affect the cooperative agenda between China and India", Wang said.
The announced measures "will further strengthen contact and liaison between the two militaries, especially the two border defense forces, boost trust and cooperation, and facilitate timely discussions by both countries in regard to border affairs", Hua said.
Beijing and New Delhi also highlighted reconciliation in handling border affairs.
In another sign of goodwill on Sept 30, China and India "completed simultaneous withdrawals according to the steps formulated by the two countries and restored peace and tranquility" in the border area, according to a previous news release by the Foreign Ministry.
Hua said that during the talks last week both countries agreed to "greater cooperation in order to ensure peace and stability on the border and create a good climate for the developing bilateral relationship".
Zhou Gang, former Chinese ambassador to India, said some difficult problems yet to be resolved have led to the diminishing of mutual trust.
"The latest frequent contacts of top leaders from both sides have outlined shared vision in securing the big picture," Zhou said.
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