Need to resolve border issue with China, says PM Modi

The News Minute | September 18, 2014 | 04:05 pm IST 

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi candidly said on Thursday that solving the boundary issue between India and China is needed for growing economic cooperation between two countries.

"We need to resolve our boundary issue soon," Modi said on Thursday, addressing a joint press conference with visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping after official talks at Hyderabad House here.

"A clarification on the LAC (Line of Actual Control) is very important. It has been pending for years, it is time to start it again," he said.

The prime minister said he raised the issue of Chinese incursions in the border with India.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi With The Chinese President, Xi Jinping And The First Lady Of The Republic Of China, Peng Liyuan, At Sabarmati Waterfront, In Ahmedabad, Gujarat On September 17, 2014.

(  Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the Chinese President, Xi Jinping at Sabarmati Waterfront, in Ahmedabad, Gujarat on September 17, 2014. )

"The incidents that took place at the border, I expressed my concern over them. Peace and stability at the border is the foundation of economic possibilities," he said.

Modi said mutual trust and respect for each other's sensitivities and concerns, and peace and stability in our relations and along our borders are essential.

Also read: China, India capable of handling border issue, says Xi

( Chinese President, Xi Jinping and the First Lady of the Republic of China, Peng Liyuan paying floral tributes at the Samadhi of Mahatma Gandhi, at Rajghat, in Delhi on September 18, 2014. )

"If there is peace and stability, friendship and cooperation on the border, we can utilise the possibilities and contribute in each other's growth, and give a new direction to the world economy," he added.

Describing China as India's biggest neighbour and that it has a role in nation-building and foreign policy, Modi said he attched "importance and priority to relations with China".

( Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Chinese President Xi Jinping at Sabarmati Riverfront in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, on September 17, 2014.)

With IANS