Beijing, Jan 27 (EFE).- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held a meeting on Monday with Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, in which he called for “understanding” instead of “suspicion and alienation” between the two countries after years of bilateral disagreements.
Wang said that, since the meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in October, the two countries have “carried out positive interactions at all levels, and accelerated the process of improving China-India relations,” the Chinese foreign ministry said in a readout of the meeting.
According to Wang, the two neighboring countries “should seize the opportunity, meet each other halfway, explore more substantive measures, and commit to mutual understanding, mutual support, and mutual achievement, rather than mutual suspicion and mutual alienation.”
“The improvement and development of China-India relations is fully in line with the fundamental interests of the two countries and their peoples, is conducive to safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of the global South countries, and is conducive to making contributions of the two ancient civilizations to peace, stability, development, and prosperity in Asia and the world,” he added.
For his part, Misri said that China and India have “properly managed and resolved differences and promoted the restart of practical cooperation in various fields” since the meeting between Xi and Modi, held in the Russian city of Kazan on the sidelines of the BRIC summit.
That was their first bilateral meeting in four years, marking a significant step forward in relations between the Asian powers following a deadly clash between their troops in 2020.
Shortly before that meeting, Beijing and New Delhi confirmed the end of a military de-escalation in their border areas.
Relations between China and India, the two largest Asian powers, deteriorated seriously from 2020 onwards, when an illegal military deployment by China led to a response by India, resulting in a border clash in Ladakh—a territory in the Himalayas claimed by China—in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed and 76 others were injured, in addition to the deaths of four Chinese soldiers.
Since then, the powers have increased their military presence in the area, increasing hostility.
Both countries have a historical dispute over some regions of the Himalayas, such as Aksai Chin, administered by China and claimed by India, as well as several places in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, where the situation is reversed. EFE
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