India says willing to further promote mutual understanding, trust with China

NEW DELHI, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- Indian President Ram Nath Kovind said his county is willing to further promote mutual understanding and trust and broaden cooperation with China so as to advance the strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries.

The Indian president made the remarks on Monday while met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who was here for the 15th trilateral meeting of foreign ministers from China, Russia and India.

During the meeting, Kovind said as neighboring countries, India and China have enjoyed long history of friendship and the cooperation between the two sides are not only in the interest of the two countries but also conducive to peace, stability and development of the region and the world at large.

For his part, Wang said China and India, ancient civilizations and emerging economies, are both at a critical time for development and national rejuvenation, and both have upheld the multilateralism and devoted to the democratization of international relations.

China and India share a wide range of common interests and positions and have great potential for cooperation, thus the two sides should stick to communication to eliminate strategic suspicions and enhance mutual understanding and support to avoid mutual suspicion, Wang said.

China is willing to further deepen cooperation with India in all sectors to push forward common development and prosperity of the two countries, the Chinese foreign minister added.

Also on Monday, Wang met with Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

Wang said thanks to efforts from both sides, the development of China-India relations in 2017 has kept the momentum but it is not satisfactory.

The bilateral ties went through a serious test after Indian border troops illegally trespassed into the Chinese territory in June, said Wang, adding although the standoff was ended eventually through diplomatic means more than two months later, lessons must be learned and efforts must be made to avoid such an incident in the future.

Leaders from both countries have shared the view that China and India should regard each other's development as opportunities rather than challenges, and China and India are partners rather than rivals, thus the two sides should sincerely implement the consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, Wang noted.

While enhancing strategic communication at all levels, restoring dialogue mechanisms that have been established and deepening pragmatic cooperation in all fields, both sides should also properly manage differences so as to maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas, the Chinese foreign minister stressed.

For her part, Swaraj said her country has always attached great importance to developing ties with China and regards ties with China as an important part of its foreign policies.

As two big developing countries, the India-China relations have great influence on the region and the world, she said.

Her country holds the view that India and China share more common grounds than differences, thus the two sides should enhance strategic communication, promote strategic mutual trust so as to prevent differences from evolving into disputes and avoid disputes deteriorating into conflicts, she noted.

While India is willing to restore all bilateral mechanisms and arrangements and push forward cooperation between the two countries in all fields, it is also committed to properly managing differences and working together to maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas, Swaraj added. Enditem