Beijing: China and India dealt with differences over the border "properly" with frequent interactions bringing peace and stability, the Chinese military said on Thursday.
Asked about Indian concerns over border incursions by Chinese troops, Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman Colonel Yang Yujun told reporters, "This year the border troops have maintained close exchange and through the institutionalised channels, the border defence troops of the two sides have kept in contact with each other and dealt with differences properly."
"In general the situation along the China-India border is stable," he said.
"Chinese side is ready to work with the Indian side to implement the consensus reached by the two sides and also observe the agreement signed between the two sides in border defence to jointly maintain peace and stability in the border region," he said.
Yang said a number of initiatives were agreed upon to improve the relations between the troops at the grassroots level during this month's visit of Indian Army's Northern Area Commander Lt Gen B S Hooda.
Hooda's visit at the invitation of Chinese military was significant as his predecessor Gen B S Jaswal was denied visa in 2011 on the grounds that Northern Command covered the "disputed" Jammu and Kashmir, which sparked angry reactions from India.
Indian officials said Hooda's visit restored military ties between the two countries removing a major irritant. Yang said during Hooda's visit views were exchanged on strengthening friendly interactions between neighbouring military commands along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and also the grassroots officers and soldiers of border defence troops.
"Both sides agreed that the armed forces of the two countries, border defence troops in particular, should treat each other with sincerity, strengthen communication, deal with differences properly and deepen cooperation so as to ensure peace and tranquillity along the border region and bring benefit to people of the two countries," Yang said.
Both sides this year have focussed their dialogue on frequent "incursions" by the Chinese troops especially in the Ladakh sector, which caused tensions at the borders.
Two of such incursions happened during the visit of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to India in 2013 and President Xi Jinping in 2014. On both the occasions, the prolonged standoffs were resolved through hectic parlays at high levels.
