Colonel Tan Kefei, the spokesperson of China’s Ministry of National Defense, said that any form of external interference by third parties in the border dispute between China and India is unacceptable.

The Chinese Ministry of Defense has opposed the move targeting the joint military exercise between the US and Indian forces in the disputed China-India border area.

According to Indian media, the 13th edition of the India-US joint special forces exercise “Purva Vajra Prahar 2022”, has started on August 8 at the Special Forces Training School in Bakloh, Himachal Pradesh and will continue for about 20 days.

Similarly, the military of the two countries will hold a joint military exercise in mid-October at an altitude of 10,000 feet in Auli, less than 100 km from the disputed China-India border.

China has said that it is closely monitoring India-US joint military exercises and said that military cooperation between related countries, especially exercises and training activities, should not target third parties and should be suitable for regional peace and stability.

Tan noted that China and India have maintained effective communication at all levels and agreed to properly resolve disputes through bilateral dialogue and according to the content of the relevant agreements between China and India in 1993 and 1996, both sides have stated that they cannot conduct military exercises against each other in areas close to the Line of Actual Control. He also urged the Indian side to strictly follow the important agreement reached between the leaders of the two countries, honor their commitment to resolve the border issue through bilateral talks and take concrete steps to maintain peace in the border area.