India has initiated a new round in the war of words with China over the disputed border area of Arunachal Pradesh ahead of a high-profile visit by Chinese president Xi Jinping, reports Duowei News, a US-based Chinese political news website.
With Xi due to visit New Delhi later this month, India's minister of external affairs Sushma Swaraj said Monday that China must respect India's territorial claim over the Indian-controlled region in the northeastern part of the country.
"For India to agree to a one-China policy, China should reaffirm one-India policy," she said at a press conference. "If we understand China's sensitivity on Tibet and Taiwan, they should also understand that we have sensitivity about Arunachal Pradesh," she added.
In response, China's assistant foreign minister Liu Jianchao said a day later that the leaders of both countries have pledged to work together to manage and control their differences.
"India is a country with which China has been friendly for thousands of years," Liu said, adding, "China has never, and will not, use so-called military or other means to try and hem in India. There is no strategic competition between China and India in our relationship."
Read the full story at Want China Times