Warning of risks of a new conflict, China says India making 'unreasonable, unrealistic demands'

New Delhi, Oct 11 (IANS) After China and India failed to reach an agreement during the latest round of corps commander-level talks over the western section of the countries' border issues, the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Western Theater Command on Monday slammed New Delhi for its "unreasonable and unrealistic demands, with India also sparking new incidents along the eastern section of the border recently", Beijing's mouthpiece Global Times said.


"Chinese experts have warned of the risks of a new conflict, saying that China should not only refuse to give in to India's arrogant demands on the negotiation table, but also be prepared to defend against another Indian military aggression," the newspaper said.

China and India held the 13th round of corps commander-level talks at the Chinese side of the Moldo-Chushul border meeting point on Sunday, "during which India insisted on unreasonable and unrealistic demands, adding difficulties to the negotiations", the PLA Western Theater Command said in a statement released on Monday.

Eyeing the overall situation in the China-India relations and the relations between the two countries' militaries, China has made tremendous efforts to ease and cool down the border situation and fully demonstrated its sincerity, Senior Colonel Long Shaohua was quoted as saying in the statement.

"China's determination to safeguard sovereignty is unwavering, and China hopes India will not misjudge the situation, cherish the current, hard-earned situation and take actions with sincerity to safeguard the peace and stability at the border by abiding to the relevant agreements and consensus reached by the two sides," Long said.

During the talks, China and India discussed further troop disengagement in the region, but as the Chinese statement suggests, India attempted to push China to make concessions to only India's favour, which is inappropriate from China's consideration of safeguarding sovereignty, territorial integrity and security, Qian Feng, director of the research department at the National Strategy Institute at Tsinghua University, told the Global Times on Monday.

"While China focuses on the big picture, wanting both sides to meet each other half way, its patience has run out, and it had to shatter India's arrogant thoughts with the statement," Qian said.

Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert and TV commentator, told the Global Times on Monday that India has been conspiring to seize territories along the border, and it likely demanded for Chinese territories or unreasonable troop deployment along the Line of Actual Control.

"It's a very aggressive move and compared with China's attempts to reach mutual accommodation, India is totally against the practical needs of both sides to manage difference," the newspaper said.

"China should continue to negotiate with India to maintain peace and stability, but without yielding an inch of ground, Song said, noting that in the meantime, China also needs to brace for the possibility of another Indian military aggression, as India is risking a new round of conflict."

Qian further said that "if India ignores China's stance displayed in the latest talks, continues or even aggravates its aggressions without changing itself, the possibility of another accident or conflict could arise".

(Sanjeev Sharma can be reached at Sanjeev.s@ians.in)