New Delhi: India and China walking together and cooperating with one another is the “only right choice” for New Delhi and Beijing, said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. The significant comments come as China looks to improve ties with India amidst its ongoing trade war with the US and the West.
“China and India are each other’s largest neighbors. China always believes that the two should be partners that contribute to each other’s success. A cooperative pas de deux of the dragon and the elephant is the only right choice for both sides. As the two largest developing countries, China and India have a shared task to accelerate our countries’ development and revitalization,” said Wang at a press conference on the margins of the third session of the 14th National People’s Congress Friday.
The Chinese foreign minister added: “There is every reason for us to support each other rather than undercut each other, work with each other rather than guard against each other. This is the path that truly serves the fundamental interests of the two countries and peoples.”
Ties between India and China have improved in recent months following the diplomatic chill following the Galwan clashes in the summer of 2020.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the margins of the BRICS Summit in the Russian city of Kazan last October. Following the meeting, a number of senior officials from the two countries have met one another. Wang described the “successful meeting” between Modi and Xi as one that has provided the “strategic guidance” for the “improvement and development of bilateral ties”.
Since then, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has met with Wang twice, while National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval has also met with the Chinese foreign minister. India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri also travelled to Beijing for the foreign secretary- vice minister dialogue mechanism in January this year.
Calling for cooperation between the “dragon” (China) and the “elephant” (India), Wang called on New Delhi to not let border tensions “affect the overall picture of bilateral ties”.
India for a large part of the last year maintained that ties cannot be normalised without peace and tranquility at the border.
“China and India are each other’s largest neighbors. China always believes that the two should be partners that contribute to each other’s success. A cooperative pas de deux of the dragon and the elephant is the only right choice for both sides,” said Wang at the press conference.
Beijing’s push for normalisation of ties with India comes as the international order is undergoing a churn since the return of US President Donald J. Trump to the White House. Trump has in the past increased tariffs on China, and has promised to move the US to a reciprocal tariff system in April, creating further unpredictability in global trade.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in recent days has asserted that Beijing is ready for any war with Washington, including one over tariffs and trade. “The fentanyl issue is a flimsy excuse to raise U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports. Our countermeasures to defend our rights and interests are fully legitimate and necessary…If war is what the U.S. wants, be it a tariff war, a trade war or any other type of war, we’re ready to fight till the end,” said the Chinese foreign ministry in a statement Tuesday.
The fentanyl issue is a flimsy excuse to raise U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports. Our countermeasures to defend our rights and interests are fully legitimate and necessary.
The U.S., not anyone else, is responsible for the #FentanylCrisis inside the U.S. In the spirit of humanity… pic.twitter.com/OjvSEcZS6o
— Spokesperson发言人办公室 (@MFA_China) March 4, 2025
India – China thaw
Subsequent to an agreement to disengage on the border, announced by Foreign Secretary Misri on 21 October, 2024, Modi met Xi on the margins of the BRICS summit. The following month, Jaishankar met with Wang on the margins of the G20 Leaders’ Summit in the Brazilian city of Rio De Janeiro.
The following month Doval travelled to China and met with Wang for discussions at the Special Representative on the Boundary Question mechanism. This was followed by Misri’s visit to Beijing in January, and Jaishankar’s meeting with Wang on the margins of the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in South Africa last month.
India has been pushing for the resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar yatra, a demand, which Beijing accepted during Misri’s visit to China in January.
The yatra is expected to begin sometime this summer.
For Beijing, the issue of direct flights between India and China has been on the top of its agenda. India has in-principle agreed to resume direct flights between the two countries, subject to technical agreements between the two sides. The other issue China has raised is the issuance of visas for Chinese nationals to travel to India.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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