China fumes over Rawat remark

Beijing: China on Thursday reacted sharply to Army Chief Gen. Bipin Rawat’s assertion that Beijing was testing India’s limits, saying the remarks were contrary to the views expressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping during their meeting in Xiamen this week.

Gen. Rawat, while speaking at a seminar organised by the Centre for Land Warfare Studies in New Delhi, had said India should be prepared for a two-front war, insisting that China had started “flexing its muscles”, while there seems to be no scope for reconciliation with Pakistan whose military and polity saw an adversary in India.

Reacting to the comments, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a briefing that, “We have noted the statement by relevant people in India, also we noticed some Indian press remarked that the reports are shocking.”

Referring to the remarks expressed by Mr Xi and Mr Modi during their first meeting following the end of a 73-day standoff between the militaries of the two countries at Dokalam, Geng also questioned whether Gen. Rawat was authorised to speak and if his comments represented the Indian government’s position.

“As reported by Indian press...We don’t know whether he was authorised to speak those words or it was just his spontaneous words or whether his words represented the position of the Indian government,” Mr Geng said.

Noting that China and India are important neighbours and are two large countries, Geng said sound and steady development of ties serves the fundamental interests of both the countries.

This is what the international community wishes to see, he said. “Just two days ago, President Xi Jinping pointed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the two countries are each other’s development opportunities, not threats,” Mr Geng said.