China plays down Indian border standoff video

BEIJING: China today said ties with India and between the armies have improved as a result of bilateral mechanisms put in place by both sides to bring down tensions over the disputed border after a video emerged showing Indian and Chinese soldiers involved in a standoff in 2013.

"I have seen the report. The video showed something that happened several years ago. We released information and clarified our position at that time," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told a media briefing.

He was replying to question about a video shown by an Indian television channel in which soldiers from both sides animatedly argued that the particular area in Ladakh region where they stood belong to their respective countries.

The video was shown by China's Phoenix television creating a buzz on Chinese social media.

The standoffs began ahead of the visit of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to India as his first overseas destination soon after he took over the post in 2013 as goodwill gesture.

The standoff in which Chinese troops pitched tents at Depsang area in Ladakh continued for several days before they withdrew.

After the incident the two sides activated the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) which included senior diplomats and military officials to resolve a number of other standoffs including the one which took place during the visit of President Xi Jinping to India in 2014.

"As we have known, in recent years China and India have set up and improved cooperation mechanisms including the WMCC and border defence mechanism. These mechanism enhanced mutual trust and helped us to resolve these issues in timely fashion," Hua said.

"This showed that as long as the two sides have the political will they are capable and have the wisdom to resolve the issue and maintain peace and stability of the border areas. We all know that stable and sound development of bilateral ties are important to regional peace and stability.

"We hope the two sides can enhance mutual trust through this mechanisms and move forward cooperation properly deal with relevant issue and ensure peace and stability of the border area and maintain sound development of bilateral relations," she said.