China dismisses reports of LAC incursion
AGENCY
BEIJING: China on Tuesday dismissed reports of fresh incursions by its troops into India as “routine patrolling” and asserted that both countries have a very effective and smooth mechanism to handle border incidents.
“Our channels and mechanism on handling the border related affairs are very effective and very smooth,” Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying told a media briefing while reacting to Indian media reports of incursions by Chinese troops ahead of the 17th round of border talks being held in New Delhi since yesterday.
The reports said a day before the talks, soldiers of the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) transgressed into Chumar area of eastern Ladakh, resulting in a two-hour face-off with Indian troops.
“We have made clear that China is committed to upholding peace and tranquillity at the border areas between China and India. China’s border defence troops are carrying out routine patrolling activities on Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC). In recent years border areas between India and China have maintained overall peace and tranquillity,” she said. The two-day border talks are being held between National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon and Chinese State Councillor Yang Jiechi in Delhi.
On the ongoing talks, Hua said they are “important efforts by the two sides to settle the border affairs. We have every reason to believe that the ongoing talks will produce positive progress so that we can as soon as possible work out a framework acceptable to both sides so as to maintain peace and stable development of China-India relations.”
The presence of Chinese troops in Ladakh’s Depsang Valley last year resulted in a diplomatic standoff that was amicably resolved later.
Subsequently both sides signed the Border Defence Cooperation Agreement (BDCA) to address issues arisen out of patrolling of disputed borders. Terming last year as the “Year of Harvest” between the two countries, Hua said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Xi Jinping met twice.
She said Singh and Premier Li Keqiang visited each other’s countries, the first time since 1954 that the Prime Ministers of the two countries made bilateral visits within a year.
“We have embarked on sound track of fast development and this year there are still a lot of things to come,” Hua said.
“This year is year of friendly exchanges between the two countries and we will hold host of celebrations for that. We are facing new opportunities for development and we hope especially that Indian friends will work with China to maintain sound momentum for development of bilateral ties,” she said.
Hua appealed to the Indian media to help maintain sound development of Sino-Indian ties so as to create favourable conditions and atmosphere for the growth of bilateral relations. (PTI)
Source: http://www.statetimes.in/news/china-dismisses-reports-lac-incursion/
Reminder on Kashmir Day: MPs present memorandum to UN
ISLAMABAD: A group of Members of the National Assembly presented a
memorandum on behalf of the Special Kashmir Committee of the National Assembly to the secretary general of the United Nations (UN) on the occasion of the Kashmir Solidarity day. MNAs including Ijazul Haq and Iftekhar Nazeer presented the memorandum to Timo Pakkala, Resident Representative of the UN in his office. The memorandum reminded the UN about its agenda on Kashmir that was pending for more than six decades. It further emphasised that the holding of a plebiscite in the Jammu and Kashmir without further delay in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions was the only way to resolve the Kashmir issue. The delegation also urged the UN that India may be persuaded to resume the composite dialogue with Pakistan with a view to peacefully resolving all outstanding issues between the two countries including the Jammu and Kashmir dispute.
http://tribune.com.pk/story/668083/reminder-on-kashmir-day-mps-present-memorandum-to-un/
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