India, China need no mediators to resolve territorial disputes - Russian ambassador

BEIJING, August 28. /TASS/. China and India can resolve bilateral territorial disputes themselves and don’t need any mediators, Russian Ambassador to China Andrei Denisov said on Monday. The ambassador commented on whether this issue may be discussed at the possible bilateral meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the BRICS summit in China’s Xiamen. "Speaking on the well-known recent hurdles between China and India, of course this is regrettable," Denisov said. "But frankly speaking, our Chinese and Indian friends may solve this issue themselves. They hardly need any mediators to influence someone’s stance. There is no need in this," the diplomat stressed. The diplomat emphasized that Russia is showing its good will towards both countries. "As the history of the 20th century has shown, if this country could play a useful role, it did it necessarily," Denisov said. He noted that Putin and Modi may hold a bilateral meeting at the summit. "It is evident that India is a very important partner for Russia. It is an old and friendly partner with a rich history of relations. So, such contacts have a very independent character for us," the ambassador said. Situation on the border The situation on the Chinese-Indian border has remained tense since the beginning of June when the Chinese military demanded that India destroy two bunkers in the Dokalam area located between the Indian state of Sikkim, Bhutan and China’s Tibet Autonomous Region, as Beijing believes that the bunkers were built on its territory. On the night of June 6, Chinese soldiers destroyed the bunkers using bulldozers, and on June 8, there was a scuffle between the Indian and Chinese soldiers leading to injuries on both sides. After the incident, the Indian troops stopped the Chinese from building a road in the area. As a response, the Chinese Foreign Ministry made a series of statements accusing the Indian military of invading China’s territory and demanding that India immediately pulls its troops back so dialogue could be resumed. In 1962, an armed border conflict broke out between India and China. Beijing still has claims for 3,500 square kilometers of territory in the Indian border state of Arunachal Pradesh. New Delhi, in turn, says that China has been "illegally occupying" more than 43,000 square kilometers of territory in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Read more