April 12, 2024 (EIRNS)—China’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told Press Trust of India at her April 11 briefing, that “China noted Prime Minister Modi’s remarks,” to Newsweek in an exclusive interview in late March, to “urgently address the prolonged situation on our borders so that the abnormality in our bilateral interactions can be put behind us.” In what were, evidently, the first public comments by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in four years about the tension on the China/India Line of Actual Control, he had told the magazine, “I hope and believe that through positive and constructive bilateral engagement at the diplomatic and military levels, we will be able to restore and sustain peace and tranquility in our borders.”
Mao concluded her response to PTI: “Sound and stable China-India relations serve the interests of both countries and are conducive to peace and development in the region and beyond. The boundary question does not represent the entirety of China-India relations, and it should be placed appropriately in bilateral relations and managed properly. … We hope that India will work with China, approach the bilateral relations from a strategic height and long-term perspective, keep building trust and engaging in dialogue and cooperation, and seek to handle differences appropriately to put the relationship on a sound and stable track.”
The Hindu daily cited foreign policy experts and their reactions to Modi, including Modi’s former Deputy National Security Advisor Pankaj Saran. Saran called the Prime Minister’s remark “highly significant” and said, “This is an important signal to China, the U.S., and to the world at large.” Saran saw Modi possibly laying the basis for prioritizing resolution of issues with China if re-elected.
