China on Monday defended its border patrols as “normal” activities to safeguard its territorial sovereignty, urging India to work with it to maintain peace along the disputed boundary amid differences over patrolling patterns.“China strictly abides by the relevant agreements and common understandings reached between the two countries and conducts normal border patrol and control activities to safeguard its territorial sovereignty and stability in the border areas,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said at a regular press conference.Responding to a question citing India’s assertion that the border situation is disturbed when Chinese forces deviate from established patrolling patterns, Guo said the two countries maintained communication through diplomatic and military channels.“We hope that India will work with China in the same direction by jointly implementing the common understandings reached between the two sides and maintaining peace and tranquillity in the border areas through concrete actions,” he said.The remarks came days after the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the situation along the India-China border was disturbed from time to time when Chinese forces deviated from established patrolling patterns.MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal made the statement on Friday in response to Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) Director General Shatrujeet Kapoor, who said face-offs between Indian and Chinese forces continued at several locations in Arunachal Pradesh.“As we have noted in the past, the situation in the India-China border areas gets disturbed from time to time when Chinese forces diverge from established patrolling patterns,” Jaiswal had said.Asked about the specific locations mentioned by the ITBP chief, Jaiswal referred the query to the Ministry of Defence.India has maintained that peace and tranquillity along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) are essential for the overall development of bilateral relations. Both countries continue to use diplomatic and military-level mechanisms to address outstanding issues and prevent misunderstandings along the disputed boundary.