Doklam effect? PLA talks of settling conflicts with dialogue, cooperation

A senior Chinese military official on Sunday said that the Doklam standoff was 'safely resolved' after talks with India

The Chinese military is working hard to build new platforms and measures to improve international cooperation, a senior People's Liberation Army (PLA) official said on Sunday while citing the 73-day-long Doklam standoff, which the official said was "safely resolved" after several rounds of talks with India, as an example of how the Chinese military is trying to resolve issues through dialogue mechanisms with different countries. 

According to agency reports, while speaking on the sidelines of the ongoing Congress of the ruling Communist Party of China, PLA official Liu Fang said, "... We already have dialogue mechanisms with 28 organisations."

Fang, according to a report by the chinadaily.com, said that the PLA has strengthened its relations with major military forces in the past five years. Further, the report quoted her as saying that during the same period, the Chinese military had built comprehensive defence collaborations with countries in its neighbourhood and participated in multilateral security dialogues and cooperation.  

"Our mutual understanding and trust with foreign armed forces keep deepening. ... We continue to improve our mechanism on dialogue and trust-building with foreign militaries," she said, adding, "So far, we've established strategic negotiation mechanisms on defence affairs with 28 nations and international organisations, which has boosted strategic mutual trust and policy exchange."

While referring to the Doklam standoff, Liu, a staff officer at the Office for International Military Cooperation of the PLA's Central Military Commission, said: "This year, India military crossed the borderline into China's territory. Of course, it has safely been resolved."

"My colleagues in the military and other ministries worked very closely and held negotiations with the Indian side many times, while China clearly reiterated its position," she said, adding, "All of this contributed a lot to the peaceful resolution of China-India cross border dispute."