Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi Wang Yi has stressed that India and Beijing should collaborate as partners for mutual benefit rather than compete as rivals and added that When they join hands, a stronger Global South will improve greatly.
In his remarks on India-China relations, Wang highlighted how cooperation between these two Asian powerhouses would yield advantages for both countries.
“Wang Yi said, China and India are each other’s largest neighbors. China always believes that the two should be partners that contribute to each other’s success. A cooperative pas de deux of the dragon and the elephant is the only right choice for both sides,” he said.
“As the two largest developing countries, China and India have a shared task to accelerate our countries’ development and revitalization. There is every reason for us 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 the two countries and peoples,” Wang Yi said on Friday, according to the statement released by chinese foreign ministry.
Wang emphasised that the nations ought to support one another rather than work against each other, noting that such collaboration serves the basic interests of their citizens.
Wang Yi affirmed that diplomatic channels could resolve disagreements between the nations, whilst cooperation remains essential for achieving shared objectives. “There is no problem that cannot be solved through dialogue and no goals that cannot be reached with cooperation,” he said, while promoting a positive approach to bilateral relations.
India-China relationship
India and China relationship improved with the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and China’s President Xi Jinping in Kazan last year and the subsequent visits to Beijing by NSA Ajit Doval and foreign secretary Vikram Misri that resulted in a series of “common understandings on the boundary question and practical cooperation”, said Chinese ambassador Xu Feihong.
The remarks followed the recent meeting between external affairs minister S Jaishankar and his counterpart Wang Yi in which the former had lauded cooperation between the 2 countries on multilateral forums, particularly the G20.
Doval had visited China in December for talks between the Special Representatives that took place after a gap of 5 years. This was followed by Misri’s visit to China during which India and China agreed to resume Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, trans-border river cooperation and, in principle, direct air services.
For the first time in 5 years, Modi and Xi had met in Russia in October 2024 on the sidelines of the BRICS summit, days after the 2 countries reached an agreement to complete the military disengagement process in eastern Ladakh. India, however, wants to tread cautiously in normalising ties with China and, in his meeting with Wang last week, Jaishankar stressed the importance of restoring mutual trust in bilateral ties and jointly maintaining border peace.