Beijing/ New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar called on Chinese President Xi Jinping today and apprised him of the recent development of bilateral ties between the two countries, emphasising the importance of the guidance provided by the leadership of both countries in navigating the relationship.
“Called on President Xi Jinping this morning in Beijing along with my fellow SCO foreign ministers,” Jaishankar said in his post on X.
“Conveyed the greetings of President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Apprised President Xi of the recent development of our bilateral ties. Value the guidance of our leaders in that regard,” Jaishankar said.
A meeting will be held today in the format of the SCO whose primary mandate is to combat terrorism, separatism and extremism.
“This is a shared concern and India hopes that zero tolerance for terrorism will be strongly upheld,’’ Dr Jaishankar said yesterday.
Dr Jaishankar who is in China for participating in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Foreign Ministers’ meeting today, wished the Chinese side a successful SCO presidency.
Yesterday, Jaishankar said India and China had made good progress in the past nine months for normalization of bilateral relations because of resolution of the friction along the border and the ability to maintain peace and tranquility there.
In his opening remarks during a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, the External Affairs Minister said this is the fundamental basis for the mutual strategic trust and for smooth development of bilateral relations. It is now incumbent on both countries to address other aspects related to the border, including de-escalation, he added.
He said both countries had earlier agreed that “differences should not become disputes, nor should competition ever become conflict”. “On this foundation, we can now continue to develop our ties along a positive trajectory,’’ he added.
Dr Jaishankar said that as neighbouring countries and major economies in the world today, there are various facets and dimensions of India-China bilateral relations. Measures towards normalizing people–to–people exchanges can certainly foster mutually beneficial cooperation.
He said it is also essential that restrictive trade measures and roadblocks are avoided and hoped to discuss these issues further in detail.
The External Affairs Minister said the India-China bilateral relationship required that both countries take a far-seeing approach to bilateral ties.
He said India appreciates that the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra has resumed after a gap of five years. He thanked China for their cooperation on this matter.
Earlier Dr Jaishankar met Chinese Vice President Han Zheng and SCO Secretary General Nurlan Yermekbayev.
During his meeting with the Chinese Vice President, he expressed confidence that his discussions with the Chinese leaders would maintain the “positive trajectory’’ in relations between New Delhi and Beijing. He said India-China relations had been steadily improving since Prime Minister Modi met Chinese President Xi in Kazan last October.
