India has stated that its bilateral relations with China will be based on the border situation and that the border situation will have a direct impact on these relations.
This was stated by the Foreign Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar while responding to questions during a media briefing here on Tuesday. Actually, in response to China's recent move to change the names of Arunachal Pradesh and some of its locations, India has recently officially marked 27 key places in Arunachal Pradesh on the Survey of India map. This has drawn a negative response from China.
When asked about China's response, Mr. Kumar said that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral and indivisible part of India. He said that this is an established fact and no one can change this indisputable truth.
In response to a question about the situation on the border between the two countries, the spokesperson said that India takes border-related issues very seriously and peace and stability on the border are its priority. He clarified that the border situation will have a direct impact on India-China relations. The spokesperson said, "In matters related to border areas between India and China, we have always emphasized in our talks with China that we take these issues very seriously and maintaining peace and stability in these areas is of utmost importance. We have also made it clear that the situation in border areas will reflect the situation in our overall bilateral relations. This was also reiterated at the 36th meeting of the 'India-China Border Affairs Consultation and Coordination Working Mechanism' held recently on August 6. In this meeting, both sides had an open and frank discussion and reviewed the situation on the Line of Actual Control (LAC)."
Mr. Kumar said that during the meeting, India emphasized that maintaining peace and stability in border areas is essential for the overall development of bilateral relations.
It was agreed that the existing diplomatic and military channels, including the Working Mechanism meetings, local commander-level meetings, and other mechanisms, would continue to be used to avoid misunderstandings and incorrect approaches on the Line of Actual Control and to resolve the remaining issues.