China, India keen to bui8k8ld on shared interests

Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with Indian Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on Thursday in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, where they agreed to commit to stability in the border areas and to hold a new round of consultations on border issues as soon as possible.

Wang called for the proper handling and management and control of the situation in the border areas, while actively resuming and carrying out normal exchanges.

So far, the two sides have held 29 meetings of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on China-India Border Affairs, and 21 rounds of the China-India corps commander level meeting to resolve border issues.

It is in the fundamental interests of the two countries and two peoples to stick to good-neighborly friendship and to achieve common development, Wang said.

He underlined the need for both sides to view bilateral ties from a strategic perspective, strengthen communication and properly handle differences, so as to ensure the sound and steady development of China-India relations.

Being members of the Global South, Wang said China and India should join hands to oppose unilateral bullying and bloc confrontation, and make due contributions to peace, stability and development of the region and beyond.

Jaishankar said India hopes to work with China to constructively resolve specific differences and to open a new chapter in India-China relations as soon as possible.

As the two countries share extensive common interests, he said developing a stable and predictable India-China relationship conforms to the interests of both sides and will also benefit the region and the world.

Noting that China will take over the rotating presidency of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, he said India supports China in fulfilling its duties and is willing to strengthen coordination and cooperation in multilateral mechanisms.

India will uphold multilateralism and safeguard shared interests of developing countries, he added.

ENDS