‘Stable, constructive Indo-Sino ties will contribute to global peace, prosperity’
New Delhi, Aug 19: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday underlined the importance of maintaining peace and tranquillity along the frontier with China, and reiterated India’s commitment to a fair, reasonable and mutually-acceptable resolution to the boundary question as he met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
Modi said stable, predictable and constructive ties between India and China will contribute significantly to regional as well as global peace and that he is looking forward to meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping on the margins of the upcoming summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in the Chinese city of Tianjin.
Wang, who landed in Delhi on Monday on a two-day visit, handed over a message and an invitation to the SCO Summit from Xi to Modi.
In a social media post after his meeting with the Chinese foreign minister, Modi said the India-China relations have made steady progress, guided by respect for each other’s interests and sensitivities, since his talks with Xi around 10 months back.
Two days after India and China agreed to end the eastern Ladakh face-off, Modi and Xi met in the Russian city of Kazan in October last year and agreed to revive several mechanisms to normalise the bilateral relations and address the border dispute.
Wang’s visit is largely seen as part of the ongoing efforts of the two neighbours to rebuild their relationship after it came under severe strain following the deadly Galwan valley clashes in 2020.
“Glad to meet Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Since my meeting with President Xi in Kazan last year, India-China relations have made steady progress guided by respect for each other’s interests and sensitivities,” Modi said in a post on X.
“I look forward to our next meeting in Tianjin on the sidelines of the SCO Summit. Stable, predictable, constructive ties between India and China will contribute significantly to regional as well as global peace and prosperity,” he added.
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said Modi emphasised the importance of maintaining peace and tranquillity on the border, and reiterated India’s commitment to a “fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable” resolution to the boundary question.
“The prime minister welcomed the steady and positive progress in bilateral ties since his meeting with President Xi in Kazan last year, guided by mutual respect, mutual interest and mutual sensitivity, including the resumption of the Kailash Manasarovar Yatra,” the PMO said in a statement.
Modi thanked Xi for the invitation to the SCO summit and conveyed his acceptance.
The prime minister expressed support for China’s presidency of the SCO Summit and said he looks forward to meeting Xi in Tianjin, the PMO said.
The SCO summit will be held on August 31 and September 1.
The PMO said Wang shared his “positive assessment” of bilateral meetings with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval.
While Wang and Jaishankar held extensive talks on Monday, the Chinese foreign minister’s meeting under the framework of Special Representative dialogue on the boundary question took place on Tuesday.
