China on Wednesday said Beijing and New Delhi could open a new chapter in their ties, by finding a long-term solution to border friction as seen in Doklam, to help spur the collective rise of Asia.
Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to China, following the end of a tense standoff between Indian and Chinese troops in the Sikkim sector, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi hoped the two countries “will join hands and work together for the rejuvenation of, for the development of our region and contribute our share to the greater development.”
With reference to the Doklam crisis, Mr. Wang said: “In the meantime, with our engagement through a different mechanism, we need to work out a solution in the long run.”
Analysts say that Mr. Wang’s reference to a new preventive mechanism, dovetails with calls for establishing a new “strategic dialogue” between the two countries, which is in tune with the current aspirations of the two rising powers, especially in the Asia Pacific and the Indian Ocean.
“There is huge potential and space for greater cooperation between China and India. And such cooperation serves the interests of the two countries and people’s,” observed Mr. Wang, during his briefing on the upcoming summit of Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa (BRICS) that begins in the Chinese coastal city of Xiamen on September 3.
However, in response to a question, Mr. Wang counselled India “to draw lessons from the border incident.” “We hope the Indian side will learn lessons from this incident and prevent similar incidents from happening again.”
The Doklam standoff began on June 16, when Indian troops stalled China’s road construction at the disputed tri-junction of China, Bhutan and India, which would have compromised the security of an arterial corridor linking the northeast with the rest of India.
Reiterating the fallout of close China-India ties on international stability, Mr. Wang said: “We hope through the efforts from both sides we will maintain a healthy and stable momentum of growth. This is in the interest of not only Indian and Chinese people, but also meets the aspirations of the international community.”
Separately, Mr. Wang rubbished the conjecture that the upcoming visit in September to India by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was meant to “contain” China. “I don’t think Prime Minister Abe needs to seek the opinion of China about the country he is going to visit. Ask Prime Minister Abe about this theory of containing China, and I do not think he is going to say this is his real intention. So I hope our friends in the press will not try to dig up stories that are reported from this perspective.”
Mr. Wang pointed out that both India and Japan are China’s neighbours. “Of course we hope that whether it is the Prime Minister of India visiting other countries or the Prime Minister of Japan visiting India, those visits always contribute to international cooperation, in particular increase mutual understanding, solidarity and cooperation among Asian countries.”
