A week after India announced that a patrolling agreement had been reached with China for the Demchok and Depsang regions of Eastern Ladakh, the Chinese ambassador to the country has said that “many important understandings” have been arrived at and Beijing hopes that the relationship between the two countries will progress smoothly.
Ambassador Xu Feihong, who was in Kolkata on Wednesday, said that the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Russia on October 23 was very important and the discussions between them will serve as the guidelines for the development of the relationship.
“There was a very important meeting between President Xi Jinping and PM Narendra Modi. Now that the two leaders have reached many important understandings, they will be the guidelines for the further development of relations between our two countries. I hope that, under the guidance of this consensus, our relations will be moving forward smoothly in the future and they will not be restricted or interrupted by specific disagreements between our two sides,” the ambassador said.
Stating that some differences between neighbouring countries are natural, the ambassador added, “The most important thing is how to handle and solve them. The meeting of the two leaders has set a very good example for us on how to handle these differences.”
To a question on when direct flights between India and China – which had been halted in 2020 – would resume, the ambassador elicited laughter when he said, “I am also looking forward to direct flights so I can fly back to Beijing directly.”
Mr Feihong added that direct flights would be convenient for everybody and would save time and money.
Responding to a question on trade ties, the ambassador also said he wants smooth cooperation between India and China in business, education, science and “every field”.
‘Disengagement In 2 Areas Complete’
Mr Feihong’s comments came on a day when sources in the Indian Army said the disengagement in the two areas has been completed and patrolling would begin soon. The modalities for the patrolling will be worked out by ground commanders, the sources said, adding that sweets would be exchanged with Chinese troops on the occasion of Diwali on Thursday.
Under the patrolling agreement for Depsang and Demchok, which had been announced on October 21, it was decided that the troops would return to the positions that existed before the stand-off between the two countries began in 2020.
NDTV had accessed satellite images the same week which showed that structures were being removed by the Chinese side.