China should sit with us to solve the border issue, no one can warn India: Rajnath on Arunachal road plan

China on Wednesday sharply reacted to India’s plans to construct a road network along the McMohan line in Arunachal Pradesh. It also said that India should not take any action which may complicate the situation before a final settlement is reached to end the boundary dispute.

“There is a dispute about the eastern part of the China- India border. Before final settlement is reached we hope that India will not take any action that may further complicate the situation,” Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hong Lie said in Beijing.

“We should jointly safeguard the peace and tranquillity of the border area and create favourable conditions for the final settlement of the border issue,” he said.

Forces of the two countries were locked in a stare-down at Chumur in Ladakh for a fortnight beginning September 11, which clouded the Chinese President Xi Jinping’s three-day India visit.

For days, soldiers of the Chinese PLA and Indian Army personnel were engaged in an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation in the area.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised the matter twice with the Chinese president. Tension erupted when some Chinese workers crossed over with equipment to build a road up five kilometre deep inside the Indian territory. A marathon flag meeting between the two armies facilitated an end to the crisis.

The Home Minister on Tuesday reviewed the prevailing situation along the 3,488 km-long border with China and steps being taken to stop incursions in future.

Earlier, India had proposed its plan to embark on an ambitious road project along the McMahon Line in Arunachal Pradesh.

(With PTI inputs)