18:11
India on Tuesday said the state of its border with China will reflect on the state of the "larger bilateral ties" and that maintenance of peace and tranquillity along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) is of "utmost importance".
The ministry of external affairs (MEA) also rejected China's criticism of New Delhi identifying 27 places and features in Arunachal Pradesh by their standard names, and asserted that the state is an "inalienable and integral" part of India and nothing can change this "indisputable reality."
"In matters relating to the border areas between India and China, we have always emphasised in discussions with the Chinese side that we consider these issues as most serious," MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at a regular media briefing.
"The maintenance of peace and tranquillity in these areas is of the utmost importance. We have also stated that the state of the border affairs will reflect on the state of our larger bilateral ties," he said.
Jaiswal said this was reiterated at meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China border affairs ( WMCC) held last week.
"At this meeting, the two sides engaged in frank discussions and reviewed the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC)," he said.
Jaiswal said the Indian side again underlined that maintaining peace and tranquillity in the border areas is essential for the overall development of bilateral relations. -- PTI
