New Delhi: Chinese Ambassador to India Sun Weidong Friday said India and China should work towards keeping India-China ties on the “right track”, by taking a “long-term perspective” of bilateral ties.
The ambassador was speaking on the occasion of the 72nd anniversary of establishment of diplomatic ties between China and India.
“Today marks the 72nd anniversary of establishment of diplomatic ties b/t #China & #India. Let’s stick to long-term perspective, win-win mentality & cooperative posture, keep the development of bilateral relations on the right course & bring more benefits to our peoples,” the envoy said in a tweet.
Today marks the 72nd anniversary of establishment of diplomatic ties b/t #China & #India. Let's stick to long-term perspective, win-win mentality & cooperative posture, keep the development of bilateral relations on the right course & bring more benefits to our peoples.
— Sun Weidong (@China_Amb_India) April 1, 2022
India-China established diplomatic ties in the 1950s, based on the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence.
The Chinese envoy’s remarks comes at a time when Beijing is keen to see Prime Minister Narendra Modi visiting China to participate in the upcoming BRICS Summit, which the neighbouring country is hosting this year.
Russia too likely to push for better ties
The Indian Prime Minister’s presence at the BRICS Summit was also one of the reasons why Chinese Foreign Minister and State Councilor Wang Yi was in India on a hurricane tour on 25 March.
During his meeting with Wang, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar had, however, told him that unless there is peace in the border areas, bilateral ties between both countries cannot go back to normalcy.
India and China have been engaged in a tough border standoff since April-May 2020 in the eastern sector of Ladakh which also witnessed the killing of 20 Indian soldiers at the Galwan Valley in June 2020.
Since then several rounds of talks at the level of military commanders and diplomats have taken place but the process of disengagement and deescalation did not take place in an expedited manner even as large number of troops continue to remain amassed on both sides of the border.
Improvement of relations between India and China is also likely to feature in Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s agenda during his meetings in India Friday. Lavrov is expected to urge India to both participate in the BRICS Summit and push for the Russia-India-China (RIC) trilateral dialogue. He may also aim to expand strategic and business ties with between the countries, as Russia faces unprecedented economic sanctions due to the Ukraine war.
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
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