AMN /New Delhi
India on Thursday urged Beijing not to digress from its commitment made in Astana in June for peaceful resolution of all disputes. The consensus arrived at between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jin Ping at Astana on the sidelines of the SCO Summit on June 8 would continue to guide India’s approach to the resolution of the dispute, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Gopal Baglay said here.
His remarks came in reply to a question asked by a Chinese journalist who wanted Indian response to their Foreign Minister Wany Yi’s demand for unconditional withdrawal of troops from Doklam for any meaningful talks to begin. Mr Baglay underscored that there were two components of Astana consensus. One was that India-China relations were significant not only bilaterally but for the region and the whole world and were a factor of stability, and the other was that they should resolve their differences through peaceful means and not let them turn into disputes. He said India also attached great importance to its economic engagement with China and also on people to people contact.
Referring to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha today, he said that the Minister had clearly stated the centrality of the Astana consensus in the resolution of any dispute between the two countries. The Spokesperson avoided any comment on the content of National Security Adviser Ajit Doval’s meeting with Chinese counterpart in Beijing as regards the Doklam Stand off, saying only that he would share any information on the subject when he got it . On a question about other countries’ stand on the Doklam Stand off, the Spokesperson said the international community supported a peaceful resolution of the situation.
