China on Wednesday said it “values” its ties with China, ahead of a possible meeting between Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang and his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar in New Delhi on Thursday. India And a “stronger relationship” between the two is in the fundamental interest of both countries and their peoples.
Qin, who is coming to New Delhi to attend the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting on Thursday, is expected to meet Jaishankar, though the Ministry of External Affairs remained tight-lipped about it.
Dubbed as a “fence-breaking” trip to India by the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post newspaper, it is Qin’s first visit to India since taking over from his predecessor Wang Yi last December and also his first Jaishankar meeting with
The meeting of Qin and Jaishankar assumes significance in the light of the progress made by the two countries in the 17th round of high-level military-level talks to resolve the eastern Ladakh standoff.
Asked about Qin’s meeting with Jaishankar, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said at a media briefing here on Wednesday, “China attaches importance to its relations with India.”
“China and India are ancient civilizations with more than a billion people each. We are neighbors and both are emerging economies. A strong China-India relationship serves the fundamental interests of both countries and peoples.”
Mao, without confirming the meeting with Jaishankar, said that details of Qin’s visit to India would be released “in a timely manner”.
Relations between China and India have almost frozen since the eastern Ladakh military standoff between the two countries in May 2020.
To resolve the deadlock, 17 rounds of high-level military commanders’ talks have taken place between the two countries.
India says that until there is peace in the border areas, its relations with China cannot be normal.
Last week, senior officials of India and China held an individual meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) here and discussed proposals for disengagement in the remaining areas of the Line of Actual Control (LAC). . ) in eastern Ladakh.
This was the first in-person meeting of the WMCC since July 2019. Dr. Shilpak Ambule, Joint Secretary (East Asia), Ministry of External Affairs, who led the Indian delegation, also met Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Hua Chunying.
Commenting on Qin’s visit, Wang Dehua, head of the Institute for South and Central Asia Studies at the Shanghai Municipal Center for International Studies, said the Chinese foreign minister’s visit to Delhi is expected to de-escalate bilateral tensions over the long-standing border standoff between China and China. Doing may help. India.
He told the Post, “This is an important step for bilateral ties and although it is unlikely to see any breakthrough in their border disputes anytime soon, it will at least help mend their damaged ties and stabilize the situation near the disputed areas.” “
According to Wang, the Modi government appears to partially share Beijing’s concerns and also wants to avoid the Ukraine crisis dominating the G20 summits this year, which could provide an opportunity for Beijing to find common ground with Delhi.
With the border dispute continuing to be the top challenge to bilateral ties, it would be difficult to expect India and China to see a rapid improvement in those ties.
“While Beijing still views Delhi as a swing country in the US-China rivalry, Delhi is actively seeking to partner with various countries, including the US, UK, Japan and other Western powers (to counter China). Trying,” he said.
India assumed the chairmanship of the G20 on 1 December last year. G20 members represent about 85 percent of global GDP, more than 75 percent of global trade, and nearly two-thirds of the world’s population.
Member countries include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, UK and USA.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)