New Delhi — Chinese and Indian diplomats said Monday the frontier dispute between the world’s two most populous nations remains a_ sore point, but pledged efforts to settle it amicably.
The statements were made at a banquet given by Chinese A Save mbassador Li Lian Qing on the 35th anniversary of the establishment of relations between India and China’s communist government.
Li said the 1962 border war severely strained relations, but in the context of age-old Sino Indian ties “it is but a small episode and has become a thing of the past.”’
India’s foreign minister, Khurshed Alam Khan, told Li the boundary question ‘‘remains the crucial issue dividing us, and until there is a just and satisfactory solution of this question, our efforts to achieve full normalization of relations will continue to be handicapped.”’
But he added, “We in India continue to look toward the future with firm determination to try and resolve our differences.” Current talks on the issue are based on India’s ‘‘sincere desire to resolve this problem,”’ he said.
Article extracted from this publication >> April 5, 1985
