China asks India to stop construction activity along border

Beijing, Dec 1 (PTI) After objecting to construction of
a road in Ladakh in north India, China Tuesday asked India to
stop building activities along their disputed boundary
insisting that till this issue is settled the two countries
should maintain "peace and stability" in the border areas.
"On the border issue, China and India have disputes,"
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said at a news
conference.
"The two sides should make joint efforts to this end
before the border issue gets final settlement," Qin said,
defending Beijing's objection to construction of a link road
in Demchok in South-eastern Ladakh region, barely months after
repeated incursions by the Chinese army in that area.
The official Xinhua news agency reported that the road
was being built by "authorities of Indian Kashmir in a
disputed area near the line of control."
"The construction stopped after objection from the
Chinese side," it said, confirming for the first time that the
People's Liberation Army (PLA) had objected to the road
construction activities.
Work on the road, which was to connect two villages -
the last inhabited areas on the Line of Actual Control (LAC)
on Sino-Indian border in Demchok - was stopped during the last
week of October. The road is being built under Centrally-
sponsored National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS).
After construction of nearly 3.8 kms of road, the
Chinese Army sought a flag meeting with Indian Army and raised
strong objections over the construction as they consider the
area as disputed, officials said.
Chief Minister of India's northern state of Jammu and
Kashmir Omar Abdullah said he has informed the Centre that the
Chinese had raised objections over the road construction. PTI
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