(Reuters) – China warned on Thursday that a “forced decoupling” of its economy from India, following a border clash in the Himalayas last month that killed 20 Indian soldiers, would harm both countries.
The Chinese ambassador said that China was not a strategic threat to India and that “the overall structure that we cannot live without each other remains unchanged.”
The statement came after New Delhi’s recent moves to ban or sideline Chinese business interests in one of the world’s largest markets, even as the border remains tense with far more troops on the ground than usual.
“China defends mutual benefit cooperation and opposes a zero-sum game,” Ambassador Sun Weidong wrote on Twitter. “Our economies are highly complementary, intertwined, and interdependent. Forced decoupling runs counter to the trend and will only lead to a “lose-lose” result.
Nuclear-armed neighboring officials have been regularly speaking to reduce the border clash after the June 15 clash in the Galwan Valley of the Ladakh region of India, when Indian officials said the soldiers were beaten to death. with stones and sticks.
Indian authorities say Chinese troops have invaded its side in the remote western region, while China says it has not violated the disputed border and has called on India to curb its front-line troops.
India’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in an online briefing that a troop withdrawal process had not yet been completed as agreed by the two sides, and that another round of commander-level talks would be held soon.
“We hope that the Chinese side will sincerely work with us for a complete disconnection and a total reduction and the complete restoration of peace and tranquility in the border areas as a minimum,” said spokesman Anurag Srivastava.
Analysts say the worst fight between the giant countries in decades is likely to push India closer to the United States, both strategically and in trade.
China and India fought a brief border war in 1962, and China is a close ally of India’s enemy, Pakistan.
Reports of Krishna N. Das and CK Nayak; Editing by Nick Macfie
.
