Defense Minister Chang Wanquan reacted positively to the idea of setting up a military hotline for China and India. (Photo : Reuters)
China has “reacted positively” to news on the setting up of a military hotline for China and India, amid tensions over terrorism sanctions and border disputes between the two Asian giants, the South China Morning Post reported.
Citing a report by the Xinhua News Agency, the SCMP said that Chinese Defense Minister Chang Wanquan agreed to the idea during talks with his Indian counterpart on Monday, April 18.
The relationship of the world's two most populous nations is marred by territorial disputes where the two countries are competing for regional influence in Asia and parts of the Himalayas.
In 1962, the two countries waged a border war over the northeastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, parts of which were claimed by China as "South Tibet."
In 2014, the movement of hundreds of Chinese troops into mountainous areas of Ladakh under Indian control caused tension while President Xi Jinping arrived on his landmark visit in India that year.
Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar was cited by Xinhua as saying that India "hopes to beef up bilateral exchanges and cooperation [with China] in all sectors."
Parrikar, however, reiterated India's call for clear demarcation of the Line of Actual Control between the two countries, as reported by the Indian news agency PTI.
During Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to China last year, Beijing had expressed its reservation for the move.
Earlier this month, India expressed indignation when China blocked India's request to have Masood Azhar, head of the Pakistani militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad, added to a U.N. sanctions blacklist.
China, which has close relations with India's arch-rival Pakistan, has invested in several infrastructure projects worth billions of dollars in the country.
Islamabad said in January that it was planning to upgrade the constitutional status of a northern region which is also claimed by India, in an effort to gain Chinese investment, the report said.
Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj had asked Beijing on Monday, April 18, to review its position on Azhar, who is accused of being the mastermind in an attack on the Pathankot airbase in the northern state of Punjab, PTI reported.
