In a conciliatory message ahead of President Xi Jinping's India visit, China on Tuesday pitched for jointly maintaining peace and tranquility along their border before a final settlement on the issue is found, noting that it is normal for neighbours to have differences.
Chinese Ambassador Sun Weidong, in an interview to PTI, said both the emerging Asian powers should not let the boundary dispute adversely impact the normal development of bilateral relations.
"Before the final settlement of the boundary question, we need to jointly maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas," he said.
"I want to point out that it is normal for neighbours to have differences. The key is to properly handle differences and find a solution through dialogue and consultation," the envoy said.
Sun called the the India-China boundary question as a "complex and sensitive" issue left over from history.
Over the past decades, not a single bullet has been fired at the China-India border area, and peace and tranquility has been maintained, he said, adding "boundary question is only (one) part of China-India relations".
"We need to keep it in the larger picture of China-India relations and do not let the boundary dispute affect the normal development of bilateral relations," he said.
The Chinese President is scheduled to arrive in Chennai on Friday afternoon to hold the second informal summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in coastal town of Mamallapuramon. Both sides are expected to formally announce the dates of Xi's visit to India on Wednesday.
The India-China border dispute covers 3,488-km-long Line of Actual Control. China claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of southern Tibet while India contests it. Both sides have been maintaining that pending the final resolution of the boundary issue, it is necessary to maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas.
The two sides have already held over 20 rounds of border talks under the framework of Special Representatives dialogue which was set up to find an early solution to the border dispute.
There has been indication that the second informal summit between Modi and Xi may focus on ways to further enhancing peace and tranquility along the border.
The first informal summit between Modi and Xi took place in picturesque Chinese lake city Wuhan in April 2018, months after a 73-day long face off between the armies of the two countries in Doklam tri-juction in Sikkim sector raised fears of a war between the two Asian giants.
In the summit, Modi and Xi decided to issue "strategic guidance" to their militaries to strengthen communication and build trust and understanding.
"At present, following the important consensus of our leaders to properly handle boundary question and promote the growth of bilateral relations, and with their political guidance, the two sides have been pushing forward the Special Representatives' meeting process bearing in mind the overall bilateral ties," the envoy said. He said the effort has been to find a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution to the boundary question.
