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Chinese FM Wang Yi noted that India and China have made “positive strides” in bilateral relations following the end of a prolonged military standoff in eastern Ladakh and promised to advance ties.
India-China ties made “positive strides” after the Kazan meeting between PM Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping last year, said Wang Yi. (File Image: X/@narendramodi)
As tensions between China and the United States rise due to US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs on Chinese products, Beijing is now pushing for a stronger cooperation with India to “oppose hegemonism and power politics” and uphold international norms.
Addressing an press conference on the sidelines of the annual session of China’s parliament in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said, “China and India should be partners that contribute to each other’s success. A cooperative pas de deux (dance involving two people) of the dragon and the elephant is the only right choice for both sides.”
“To support each other rather than undercut each other, work with each other rather than guard against each other — this is the path that truly serves the fundamental interests of both China and India and their peoples. When China and India join hands, the prospects for greater democracy in international relations and a stronger Global South will improve greatly.”
Wang stressed that a cooperative partnership between India and China is the only path that serves the fundamental interests of both countries and safeguard basic norms governing internal relations. “China stands ready to work with India to sum up past experience and forge a fast forward and advance China-India relations on the track of sound and stable development,” he added.
India, China Ties Made ‘Positive Strides’: Wang
During the conference, Wang also said relations between India and China have made “positive strides” and achieved several outcomes following a successful meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping last year to resolve the four-year-long military standoff in eastern Ladakh.
Both PM Modi and President Xi provided strategic guidance for the improvement of bilateral ties at the Kazan meeting in October 2023, Wang said, adding that both sides followed through on the common understanding of the leaders, “strengthened exchanges and practical cooperation at all levels.”
India and China completed the disengagement process after firming up a pact for the withdrawal of troops from Depsang and Demchok, the last two friction points in eastern Ladakh. Two days after finalisation of the pact, Prime Minister Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks in Kazan on October 23. In the meeting, the two sides decided to revive the various dialogue mechanisms.
‘India-China Ties Shouldn’t Be Defined By Boundary Dispute’
Furthermore, the Chinese foreign minister said India and China are each other’s largest neighbours and have a shared task of accelerating each other’s development and revitalisation.
“As two ancient civilisations, we have enough wisdom and capability to maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas pending a fair and reasonable solution. We should never allow bilateral relations to be defined by the boundary question, or let specific differences affect the overall picture of our bilateral ties,” he added.
Wang also noted that this year marks the 75th anniversary of India-China diplomatic relations. China had earlier expressed willingness to work with India to plan the commemoration to inject new momentum into the development of bilateral ties.
Last month, Wang met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar at the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa, where he said the restoration of mutual trust and the realisation of win-win cooperation between India and China meet the shared expectations of both peoples.
Jaishankar said India values the hard-won progress in improving bilateral relations and is willing to work with China to accelerate the restoration of cooperative mechanisms, enhance cultural exchanges, facilitate people-to-people ties, and jointly maintain peace and stability in the border regions.
His remarks came after Trump offered to mediate the lingering issue between the two neighbourhoods during PM Modi’s visit to the White House earlier that month. However, India stressed that such issues must be “resolved bilaterally”.
