New Delhi: Chinese President Xi Jinping, in a letter to President Droupadi Murmu, said there was a need to maintain peace and tranquility at the borders and said it was the right choice for China and India to be partners of mutual achievement and realise the “Dragon-Elephant Tango”.
In the customary letter exchanged between the two as India and China observed the 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties, he called on both sides to view and handle bilateral relations from a strategic height and with a long-term perspective.
He said that they should seek a way that features peaceful coexistence, mutual trust, mutual benefit and common development for major neighbouring countries to get along with each other and jointly promote a multi-polar world and greater democracy in international relations.
Xi also said he stands ready to work with President Murmu to take the anniversary of ties as an opportunity to enhance strategic mutual trust, strengthen exchanges and cooperation in various fields, deepen communication and coordination in major international affairs, jointly safeguard peace and tranquility in the China-India border area, push forward a sound and steady development of bilateral relations, and contribute to world peace and prosperity.
India and China, Xi said, are both ancient civilisations, major developing countries, and important members of the “Global South”. He said both at a critical stage of their respective modernisation efforts.
His comments came at a time when both countries are in the midst of lowering tensions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) which has witnessed major military stand-offs and clashes since May 2020.
Even though tensions have come down, a large number of troops and equipment remain deployed in forward locations with patrolling in face-off regions put on hold except for coordinated ones at Depsang Plains and Demchok in eastern Ladakh.
On her part, President Murmu wrote that India and China are two major neighbouring countries that are home to one-third of the world’s population, noting that a stable, predictable and friendly bilateral relationship will benefit both countries and the world.
She proposed to take the anniversary of diplomatic ties as an opportunity to jointly promote the sound and steady development of India-China relations.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese Premier Li Qiang also exchanged customary congratulatory messages with each other.
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)
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