Peace on border vital for better China ties: India

Peace and tranquillity on the border with China is essential for normal ties with the country, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday.
Ties between the nuclear-armed Asian giants have deteriorated since mid-2020, when Chinese and Indian troops clashed on their disputed Himalayan frontier and 24 people were killed.
India-China relations can only develop based on mutual respect, mutual sensitivity and mutual interests, Modi said in an interview to Japanese news agency Nikkei Asia, ahead of the G7 summit in Hiroshima, which he is scheduled to attend.
Earlier China said it is opposed to a G20 tourism meeting next week in Kashmir in India and will not attend.
India, which holds the chair of G20 this year, has organised a series of meetings across the country in the run-up to the summit in New Delhi in September.
“China is firmly opposed to holding any kind of G20 meetings in disputed territory, and will not attend such meetings,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said.
In 2019, India split the state of Jammu and Kashmir to create the two federal territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
A large chunk of Ladakh is under Chinese control.
Ties between New Delhi and Beijing have been strained since a military clash in Ladakh in 2020 in which 24 soldiers were killed.
Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, will host a meeting of the tourism working group for G20 members on May 22-24.
Kashmir is claimed in full but ruled in part by India and China-ally Pakistan, which has also opposed India’s decision to hold a G20 meeting in Kashmir.
India has countered the objection saying it is free to hold meetings on its own territory.
Meanwhile, Modi will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Hiroshima, broadcaster CNN-News 18 reported yesterday, their first meeting since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
News of the meeting came hours after Modi left New Delhi for Hiroshima, where he will be the most Russia-friendly of global
leaders assembled for a summit that is expected to put fresh pressure on Moscow and tighten sanctions against it.
Indian foreign ministry officials could not be immediately be reached to confirm the report or details of the meeting.
India has been invited to the G7 summit as a guest country and Zelensky is due to attend the summit tomorrow.
His presence and his calls for greater support in the war with Russia is expected to add urgency to deliberations as leaders of the world’s wealthiest democracies look to crack down on Russia’s circumvention of sanctions.
They are expected to announce new sanctions against Moscow and closer collaboration in countering China’s growing international influence.