China has continued to remain upbeat about the future of Sino-Indian ties, pointing out that the “important consensus” that had been recently reached between visiting President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will keep the borders calm, and drive the relationship forward.
Brushing aside apprehensions that persistence of tensions along the Sino-Indian frontier in Ladakh could undermine the gains of President Xi’s visit, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Hua Chunying, in response to a question, asserted that “this is (a) totally unnecessary suspicion”.
She stressed that “the two leaders (President Xi and Prime Minister Narendra Modi) have reached important consensus on politically resolving the border issue through friendly mechanism and we have an effective mechanism for the border issue … and through effective communication can resolve and control disputes”.
The summit had also yielded an agreement that “co-operation would remain the main theme” of Sino-Indian relations. The spokesperson especially pointed to President Xi’s observation that harmony between the Chinese dragon and the Indian elephant “will bring benefits to (the) whole world”.
Ms. Hua observed that Sino-Indian ties had now entered a “new age”, but implied continued engagement, as President Xi’s visit had removed “some of the suspicions” that the two countries had harboured.
The spokesperson said that she was not aware of “the specifics,” when asked to comment on the cancellation of the visit of a Chinese media delegation to India. However, she pointed out that “close communication between the Chinese and Indian media is conducive for “cementing and developing public foundation of bilateral relations”.
