DM Monitoring
BEIJING: China on Monday said that it had never recognized the so-called Arunachal Pradesh illegally established by India on the Chinese territory.
“We have never recognised the so-called Arunachal Pradesh illegally established on the Chinese territory,” Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said during his regular briefing.
He said, China’s position on the eastern section of the China and India boundary and China’s Southern Tibet was consistent and clear. Responding to a question about five civilians who went missing from Arunachal Pradesh days ago, he said, “Regarding the specifics, you mentioned I am not aware of it now.”
The Chinese and Indian soldiers recently engaged in the most serious border clashes since they fought a war in 1962, leaving as many as 20 Indian soldiers dead during the fight.China blamed India for the incidents, calling the actions by Indian border troops “infringing and provocative.”
The disputed border covers nearly 3,500 kilometers (2,175 miles) of frontier that the two countries call the Line of Actual Control and that stretches from Ladakh in the north to the Indian state of Sikkim in the northeast. The two countries have been trying to settle their border dispute since the early 1990s without success.
Meanwhile, China on Monday commended positive comments made by Prime Minister Imran Khan on bilateral relations between China and Pakistan.
“China appreciates Prime Minister Imran Khan’s positive comments on China-Pakistan relations,” Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Spokesperson Zhao Lijain said during his regular briefing while responding to a question.
He said, “As all-weather strategic cooperative partners, China and Pakistan always enjoy mutual trust and support. This year, after standing the test of COVID-19, China-Pakistan relations have become even stronger with greater mutual trust, cooperation and friendship.”
Zhao observed that the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), an important pilot project of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) cooperation and a flagship for bilateral cooperation, had registered new progress against all odds.“China stands ready to work together with Pakistan to advance cooperation in all sectors and forge a closer community with a shared future in a new era to bring more benefits for the two peoples,” he added.
The spokesperson made his remarks in response to Prime Minister Imran Khan’s recent interview to a foreign media outlet.
PM Imran Khan linked Pakistan’s economic future to China and the termed the bilateral relations between Islamabad and Beijing as “better than ever before.”
He also said that China’s growth rate was faster than any other country in the world, and Pakistan could benefit from the manner in which China had developed and lifted its people out of poverty.
PM Imran Khan also dismissed rumors about attempts to renegotiate the CPEC cooperation terms with China.
