A day after India said that violation of border agreements has eroded the very basis of the bilateral relationship, China called for “normalised management” and placing the issue in an “appropriate position” of joint relations, reflecting that there is no meeting point between the two nations on the crisis in Ladakh that will soon enter its fourth year.

The statement issued by Beijing after the talks was in sharp contrast to the Indian official position that normalising the border is imperative to moving ahead on any other front, which was conveyed by defence minister Rajnath Singh to his counterpart Gen Li Shangfu.

Beijing, however, described the current border situation as “generally stable” and tried to downplay the issue. “The two sides should take a long-term view, place the border issue in an appropriate position in bilateral relations, and promote the transition of the border situation to normalised management,” the statement read. This reflects the Chinese approach to move ahead with talks on other fronts like trade and regional cooperation without removing troops it has deployed to forward positions on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and de-escalating the situation on the border.