State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Pradeep Kumar Rawat, India's new ambassador to China in Beijing on Wednesday. PHOTO XINHUA State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that China's and India's common interests far outweigh their differences and that the two countries should support each other rather than undermine each other, as he met with Pradeep Kumar Rawat, India's new ambassador to Beijing.
Wang stated that the two neighbors should put the border issue in an appropriate position within bilateral ties and seek solutions through dialogue and consultation. China and India have held 15 rounds of Corps Commander-level talks on the border issue.
During the meeting, Wang said that China and India should meet halfway to steer bilateral relations back to the track of stable and sound development at an early date.
He said the two sides should strengthen cooperation rather than guard against each other, and strengthen mutual trust rather than be suspicious of each other.
He said that China and India should give full play to their traditional advantages in people-to-people and cultural exchanges, continue to expand mutually beneficial cooperation and work together to create a better future for mankind.
Rawat said India will pursue an independent foreign policy and that India will work with China to strengthen communication, resolve differences, and increase mutual trust to push forward bilateral cooperation. Rawat took office as India's envoy to China in March.
Wang Shida, deputy director of the Institute of South Asian Studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said healthy China-India relations help promote democracy in international relations and address global challenges as the relations concern the well-being of 2.8 billion people in both countries and whether the world can achieve justice, equality and harmony.
In an interview at the GLOBSEC Bratislava Forum, India's Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said that his country is perfectly capable of managing its relations with China.
Wang Shida said India objects to external forces meddling in Sino-Indian relations, which reflects India's tradition of independence.
The first time that the number has exceeded $100 billion, the trade volume between China and India reached $125.66 billion last year, according to statistics from the General Administration of Customs.
Wang said that the two countries are cooperating to advance BRICS development ahead of the 14th BRICS Summit.
In an article, Zhou Bo, a senior fellow at the Center for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University, said that China and India should not allow border issues to hinder the healthy development of bilateral ties, so as to uphold peace and tranquillity on the border and achieve common development.