China India Photo: Xinhua

 
China's military deployment along the western section of the China-India border is a normal defense arrangement aiming at preventing and responding to encroachment and threats on China's territory，Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said on Wednesday. 

Zhao’s remarks came after India’s foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar who said China’s military deployment along the border with India and uncertainty over whether Beijing will fulfill its promise on troop reductions remains “a challenge” for relations between the two neighbors, according to a Bloomberg report.

For a long time, the root cause of tensions along the China-India border has been India’s increase of its military deployment along the border and encroaching on China's territory, Zhao said at Wednesday’s media briefing.  

China always stands for a peaceful settlement of the boundary issue through negotiation and does not agree to link the boundary issue with bilateral relations, Zhao said. 

Global Times