After Jaishankar-Wang Yi talks, China hails win-win cooperation with India

Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi on Monday pitched for a win-win cooperation with India in talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.

On his part, Jaishankar reminded Wang that that the principle of mutuality underpinned India’s international engagement and should serve as the guiding principle for the India-China relationship.

In a statement, Jaishankar said that he highlighted to Wang that “our relations are best guided by the three mutuals — mutual respect, mutual sensitivity, and mutual interest”.

“As we seek to move ahead from a difficult period in our ties, it needs a candid and constructive approach from both sides,” Jaishankar further said.

Wang is on a two-day visit to India. After talks with Jaishankar on Monday, he will hold boundary talks with National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval on Tuesday — he and Doval are the special representatives (SRs) of the two countries for boundary talks. He will also call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi later in the day.

In the past few weeks, India and China have taken a number of steps to stabilise the relationship that had nosedived in 2020 with Chinese aggression along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the de facto border of the two countries. These steps include the resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, the resumption of visas, and the resumption of direct talks. However, the broader India-China relationship remains tense over China’s continued support to Pakistan and economic and strategic coercion that has not shown signs of stopping.

India & China should pursue win-win cooperation, says Wang

In remarks carried by Chinese state media, Wang said that India and China should pursue a win-win cooperation.

India and China should demonstrate a sense of global responsibility, act as major powers, set an example for developing countries in pursuit of strength through unity, and contribute to promoting world multipolarisation and democratization of international relations, Wang said.

India and China should explore right ways for neighbouring major countries to coexist with mutual respect and trust, pursue common development, and achieve win-win cooperation, Wang further said.

Jaishankar described the conversation as “productive” and said they discussed economic and trade issues, pilgrimages, people-to-people contacts, river data sharing, border trade, connectivity, and bilateral exchanges, and exchanged views on global and regional issues.

“Confident that our discussions today would contribute to building a stable, cooperative and forward-looking relationship between India and China,” Jaishankar further said.