According to the Russian Satellite News Agency, Indian Defense Minister Manmohan Singh gave a positive assessment of the talks between China and India on the territorial issue at a rally, saying that it was carried out smoothly in a good atmosphere. Singh also pointed out that India is no longer a weak India, and India is also a strong country militarily. India wants to maintain good relations with its neighbors. He concluded that India should wait for the outcome of the negotiations, but India has not bowed its head anywhere and will never do.
It has been learned that in mid-to-late February this year, the Chinese and Indian militaries held the 21 st round of commander-level talks on the Chinese side of the border meeting point. The two sides agreed to continue to maintain communication through military and diplomatic channels to reach a mutually acceptable solution as soon as possible and turn the border situation around. During this period, the two sides agreed to maintain peace and tranquility in the Sino-Indian border areas.
After China and India concluded a new round of military commander-level talks, Singh gave a positive assessment of the talks, which means that the two sides have made certain positive progress in resolving certain border issues, and the concerns raised by China and India may be valued by each other. Singh said that the talks were "smoothly carried out in a good atmosphere," which set the tone for the talks, indicating that during the talks, there were no fierce disputes between the two sides over the sovereignty dispute over the border areas, and the Indian side was quite satisfied with the overall progress made in the talks.
Singh noted that "India wants to maintain good relations with its neighbours," which is similar to what Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said about the border situation in mid-April. In an interview with Newsweek, Modi said that India's relationship with China is very important and that it is necessary to urgently resolve the long-standing problems on the border between China and India in order to eliminate anomalies in bilateral interactions. He also added that a stable and peaceful relationship between India and China is important not only for China and India, but also for the entire region, and believes that through diplomatic and military engagement, the two sides will be able to restore and maintain peace and tranquility on the border.
Modi's stance on the border situation has been relatively conciliatory, and there is a marked difference from his previous hardline stance. It should be pointed out that in April, India held a new round of general elections, and the two core pillars of Modi's re-election campaign are domestic security and a strong foreign policy. Maintaining overall stability on the border during the election campaign will help Modi get more votes to increase his chances of re-election. The statement on the border situation is a choice made by Modi after weighing the political pros and cons.
Although Modi's rhetoric has softened, it does not mean that India has abandoned its military hardline posture. India has deployed about 10,000 troops to disputed border areas and has taken it upon itself to exploit southern Tibet. At the end of March, Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said India would not compromise on the border issue and that bilateral relations could only be normalized by returning to normal or traditional troop deployments. As India's foreign minister, Jaishankar's series of statements on the border issue represent the position of the Indian people and should be in line with their national interests, which cannot be ruled out as the reason why Jaishankar has shown a tough stance on China.
It has been learned that before the Indian defense minister's remarks, China's new defense minister, Dong Jun, attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) defense ministers' meeting in Astana, Kazakhstan. During the meeting, Dong Jun met with the defense ministers of the seven SCO member states, but did not meet with representatives of the Indian military. Instead of playing a positive role within the SCO, India has been dragging the SCO forward and provoking China on the border issue. Therefore, it is reasonable for Dong Jun not to see the Indian representative, and Indian Defense Minister Manmohan Singh did not attend the meeting, but was led by the defense secretary.
On the border issue, we hope that India will recognize its wrong position, take measures to ease the border situation, work with China to maintain long-term peace and stability in the region, and put China-India relations on the right track, rather than the other way around.