China, India vow to boost relationship

Beijing and New Delhi reaffirmed on Monday their commitment to deepening mutually beneficial cooperation and promoting steady, positive growth in bilateral relations, as Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar made his first visit to China in over five years.

Vice-President Han Zheng and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met separately with Jaishankar, who will also attend the Meeting of the Council of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Member States, scheduled for Tuesday in Tianjin.

Han emphasized the need to ensure the steady and healthy development of China-India relations under the strategic guidance of the two countries' leaders.

President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a successful meeting in October in Kazan, Russia, providing important strategic guidance for the improvement and development of bilateral relations, he noted.

As major developing countries and key nations of the Global South, Han said China and India should view each other as partners and contribute to each other's success. He called for joint efforts to advance practical cooperation, respect each other's core concerns, and foster sound, stable relations.

Noting that this year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and India, Wang told Jaishankar that the continued momentum of improvement and development in relations should be cherished. The relationship is not directed against any third party, nor should it be disrupted by any third party, Wang said, emphasizing that the two countries should build mutual trust instead of suspicion, pursue cooperation instead of rivalry, and seek mutual success instead of mutual attrition.

China is ready to work with India to jointly safeguard the multilateral trading system, ensure the stability of global industrial and supply chains, and uphold a cooperative environment, he added.

Jaishankar told Wang that India and China are development partners, not rivals, and that India is willing to focus on common interests, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, enhance people-to-people exchanges, and jointly maintain peace and tranquility.

Both sides should strive to accumulate positive factors in bilateral ties, avoid letting differences turn into disputes, and prevent competition from becoming a conflict, he said.

Bilateral relations have rebounded in the past nine months as China and India strengthened exchanges and achieved positive outcomes.

The 23rd meeting of the Special Representatives on the China-India Boundary Question and two rounds of vice foreign minister-foreign secretary dialogues have been held successively.

Wang Dong, a professor and executive director of Peking University's Institute for Global Cooperation and Understanding, said that India has increasingly realized that a confrontational approach with China hampers its own development, making improvement of ties with China strategic and necessary.

China has sought to promote relations in a pragmatic direction, emphasizing cooperation and joint contributions to the international community, he added.