'India helped us, now we want to help...': China on 70th anniversary of diplomatic ties

As India and China celebrate their 70th 'diplomatic anniversary', China's ambassador to India, Sun Weidong tweeted a video message talking about how it was important for the two countries to come together and build a community to win the battle against COVID-19. He said that since both countries were going through the same feelings and the same task, to defeat the global pandemic, it was important to strengthen their ties at this difficult time. 

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"When China was fighting against the epidemic, we saw precious support from Indian people, and now that India is facing the problem, we want to lend a helping hand and support India to win this battle against the Coronavirus," said Sun Weidong. 

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China's statements of diplomacy come days after tensions between the two countries escalated following repeated LAC violations by China near Sikkim and Ladakh. Last week, defence forces were involved in a stand-off with their Chinese counterparts near the India-China border in north Sikkim. The confrontation is reported to have taken place near the Naku La Sector and was solved later after local-level talks between the authorities. Shortly after the heated scuffle between the Chinese People's Liberation Army troops and Indian troops along the LAC, Air Force was forced to rush its fighter jet patrols in Ladakh after Chinese military choppers were found to be flying close to the Line of Actual Control.

Meanwhile, on the pandemic front, India supposedly passed China in the total number of Coronavirus cases reported by the two countries. While China's official tally stands at 84,029 cases, a report claimed that a leaked data from the National University of Defence Technology in the city of Changsha suggests China's total maybe 640,000. 

The death toll due to the novel Coronavirus in India rose to 2,872 and the number of cases climbed to 90,927 in the country on Friday, with 120 more deaths and 4,987 fresh cases being reported in the past 24 hours, according to the Union Health Ministry. 

Read: China Reports 17 New Coronavirus Cases; Wuhan Continues Mass Testing Campaign