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Updated: May 16, 2016 19:53 IST

Beijing said on Monday that India and China are capable of peacefully resolving their boundary dispute and any “other country” should respect the efforts they are making in that direction, remarks apparently aimed at the US.

China’s reaction came after a new Pentagon report said Beijing was increasing troop presence along the border with India.



“The Chinese side is committed to safeguarding peace and tranquility of the border areas between China and India and resolving the boundary question through negotiation with India,” the ministry of foreign affairs said.

“China and India are wise and capable enough to deal with this issue. It is hoped that other country would respect efforts made by China and India for the peaceful settlement of dispute, rather than the opposite,” it said in a written statement to the Indian media.’

Read: After China’s red flag, US backs India’s entry into nuclear club

The foreign ministry did not respond to a query from HT about the government elevating the Tibet military command, apparently with an eye on a possible future conflict with India.



The US report had also said that China was increasing its defence capabilities and military presence across the world, including Pakistan, and becoming aggressive in territorial disputes, especially in the South China Sea.

Releasing the report, US deputy assistant secretary of defence for East Asia Abraham M Denmark had said that “…we have noticed an increase in capability and force posture by the Chinese military in areas close to the border with India”.

On Sunday, China’s defence ministry had also slammed the US report without directly referring to the India angle.

Defence ministry spokesperson Yang Yujun expressed “strong dissatisfaction” and “firm opposition” to the report, saying it misrepresented China's military development.

Yang, according to state media reports, said the report hyped “China's military threat” and “the so-called lack of transparency, deliberately distorted China's defense policies, and unfairly depicted China's activities in the East China Sea and South China Sea.”

Read: China deploys more troops near India border, eyes Pak naval hubs: US

On NSG

On the issue of China opposing India’s move to becoming a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), China said NSG members should discuss this based on rules and standards of the group and take a decision based on consensus.



“China supports and plays a constructive role in discussion recently held in NSG. China also states that such position targets no particular country and this position applies to all non-NPT (Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty) countries. China sticks to this position in order to maintain the international nuclear non-proliferation regime based on the NPT,” foreign ministry spokesperson Hong Lei said on Monday.