BEIJING (BLOOMBERG) – China said India was being unreasonable in talks over their disputed border, a sign that the nations are struggling to improve ties following clashes last year.

The Chinese side “made great efforts” to calm tensions during a meeting of military officials on Sunday (Oct 10), Colonel Long Shaohua, spokesman for the Western theatre of the People’s Liberation Army, said in a statement.

“But India still stuck to unreasonable and unrealistic demands, which added difficulties to the negotiation,” according to the statement released on Monday, which said the talks were held at the Chushul-Moldo border meeting point in the Ladakh region.

The Indian Army said talks on Sunday broke down, NDTV reported on Monday.

“During the meeting, the Indian side…made constructive suggestions for resolving the remaining areas but the Chinese side was not agreeable and also could not provide any forward-looking proposals. The meeting thus did not result in resolution of the remaining areas,” NDTV reported, quoting a statement from the army.

“The two sides have agreed to maintain communications and also to maintain stability on the ground,” it added.

India and China clashed several times in that region last year in some of the worst fighting since a 1962 war. Those skirmishes came as President Xi Jinping pursued a more assertive foreign policy that has also seen China ramp up military pressure on Taiwan.

Earlier this year, India moved about 50,000 extra troops to the border area, a historic shift towards an offensive military posture against the world’s second-biggest economy.

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