At Tibet forum, Wang calls for territorial integrity
China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi speaks at a China ministerial meeting at the 48th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign ministers meeting in Kuala Lumpur. PHOTO: REUTERS
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at forum in Tibet on Thursday that nations in the region must respect each other’s sovereignty, amid simmering tensions with India over a disputed border in the eastern Himalayas.
"We must adhere to mutual respect and trust, jointly maintain regional unity, and respect each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity," Wang said at the forum in the city of Nyingchi, 160km (100 miles) from Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims as part of Tibet.
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India's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request from Reuters for comment. Attending the forum in Tibet, the third round of trans-Himalayan dialogue since its inception in 2018, were officials from countries including Nepal, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Mongolia.
Representatives from India, as in 2018 and 2019, were not among the attendees. Relations between China and India nosedived in 2020 after a border clash in which 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers were killed.
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This year, China angered India when it released a map showing the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh in the eastern Himalayas to be a part of southern Tibet.
Wang said that lies fabricated by "some Western forces" about Tibet were untenable and based on ideological bias, and will unravel "in the face of facts".