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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Monday that China and India have had "some setbacks" in recent years that do not serve the two countries' fundamental interests. He urged for resolving boundary disputes through communication and actively seeking a "fair and equitable" settlement.

Wang also remarked that some forces have long sought to create tensions between China and India, in an apparent reference to the US, during his annual press conference on the margins of the Chinese parliament.

"In recent years, China and India have experienced various setbacks that do not serve the core interests of the two nations and peoples," Wang said in answer to a query from PTI about the border dispute and relations between the two neighbours.

He emphasised the importance of working out border issues through collaboration and aggressively seeking a "fair and equitable" settlement.

According to Wang, who is also a State Councilor, China and India should be partners rather than enemies.

S Jaishankar, India's External Affairs Minister, warned last month that the country's relationship with China is currently in a "very difficult phase" after Beijing broke agreements not to send armed forces near the border.

Jaishankar stated India was having a difficulty with China along the Line of Actual Control during a panel discussion at the Munich Security Conference (MSC) 2022 in Germany (LAC).

Following a serious war in the Pangong lake areas, Indian and Chinese forces clashed in eastern Ladakh, and both sides gradually escalated their deployment by putting in tens of thousands of soldiers and heavy equipment.

Tensions erupted after a deadly clash in the Galwan Valley on June 15, 2020.

As a consequence of a series of military and diplomatic talks last year, the two parties completed the disengagement process in Gogra, as well as on the north and south banks of the Pangong lake.

On January 12, India and China held their 14th round of Corps Commander-level talks, during which the two nations agreed to continue negotiating through military and diplomatic channels in order to find a "mutually acceptable settlement" to the lingering problems in the eastern Ladakh impasse.

The latest round of military-level discussions between China and India has been regarded as "pleasant and constructive," with Beijing promising to work closely with New Delhi to "fully address" the border issue, despite the US accusation that Beijing is "intimidating" its neighbours.