Beijing, March 25: China and India should put the border issue in its "proper place" in bilateral relations and should not allow the boundary issue to define or affect the overall development of their relationship, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Friday.
Wang, who held talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and National Security advisor Ajit Doval in New Delhi on Friday, proposed a three-point approach to achieve the development of bilateral relations.
"First, both sides should view bilateral relations with a long-term vision. Second, they should see each other's development with a win-win mentality. Third, both countries should take part in the multilateral process with a cooperative posture," state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Wang said that as mature and rational major developing countries, China and India "should put the border issue in its proper place in bilateral relations and should not allow the boundary issue to define or affect the overall development of the bilateral relationship." India-China Talks: S Jaishankar Conveys 'National Sentiment' to Chinese FM Wang Yi, Says 'Current Situation is Work in Progress But Slow'.
Wang, who holds the rank of a State Councillor - a high ranking position in the executive organ of the Chinese government, is also the Special Representative of China for India-China border talks along with National Security Advisor Doval.
This is the first visit by a high ranking Chinese official since the Ladakh standoff started in May 2020 leading to the breakdown of the relations between the two countries.
Wang said that China and India should help each other succeed, and not wear each other down; should support each other, and not exclude each other. He said the two sides believe that restoring peace and tranquility in the border areas is in the common interests of the two countries, that it is necessary to achieve normalized control on the basis of disengagement, and to take effective measures to prevent misunderstanding and misjudgment.
Wang said Beijing was willing to explore "China-India Plus" cooperation in South Asia to forge a cooperation model with a healthy interaction, so as to achieve mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation at a higher level and in a wider range, the agency reported.
China does not pursue the so-called "unipolar Asia" and respects India's traditional role in the region, Wang said in New Delhi where he arrived on an unannounced visit from Kabul on Thursday night.
In the first major diplomatic engagement between India and China in nearly two years, Wang and Jaishankar on Friday held extensive talks covering the eastern Ladakh row and the geopolitical turmoil triggered by the crisis in Ukraine, official sources in New Delhi said. Disengagement of Troops at LAC in Eastern Ladakh Happening at Slower Pace, EAM S Jaishankar Tells Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
Ahead of talks with Jaishankar, Wang met NSA Doval and held extensive talks on the border row, the sources said. India and China have been holding high-level military talks to resolve the face-off in the remaining friction points in eastern Ladakh. Both sides withdrew troops already from some of the friction points following the talks.
On March 11, India and China held the 15th round of high-level military dialogue to resolve the pending issues in the eastern Ladakh region. However, there was no forward movement in the talks which were aimed at resolving the remaining issues.
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