NEW DELHI: India and China should view each other as partners rather than rivals, Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi said on Monday, citing the consensus reached between president Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi during their meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in New Delhi.Wang said the two leaders held a “candid and in-depth exchange of views” on strategic and long-term issues concerning bilateral ties, according to news agency PTI. “The most important consensus they reached was that China and India should be partners,” he told Chinese official media.According to Wang, Xi said China and India could draw on each other’s strengths, support one another, help each other succeed and pursue common development. The two leaders also agreed to maintain peace and tranquillity in border areas and support each other during their respective BRICS chairmanships.The Chinese foreign ministry said the relationship had moved from a “restart” to a “renewed elevation” under the strategic guidance of the two leaders. Wang said areas of cooperation were expanding, trade had reached record levels and people-to-people exchanges were becoming more active.Wang also quoted PM Modi as saying India was ready to be “a partner, not an adversary” to China and viewed each other’s development “as an opportunity rather than a challenge”. He said PM had reaffirmed that India’s approach to China was independent of third-party influence.The two leaders, according to Wang, agreed to deepen political trust, appropriately manage differences and strengthen cooperation in areas including cultural exchanges and direct air connectivity. They also agreed to coordinate more closely through the United Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and the G20, while advancing cooperation among Global South countries.The Indian foreign ministry’s account of the meeting highlighted the need for a “strategic and long-term perspective” in managing bilateral ties. According to MEA, PM Modi said differences should not become disputes and that relations should be guided by “three mutuals” — mutual respect, mutual sensitivity and mutual interest.PM Modi also stressed that peace and tranquillity along the border remained essential for the broader relationship and called for adherence to existing agreements and understandings. Both sides backed a “fair, reasonable, and mutually acceptable resolution” of the boundary question.
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On trade, the leaders discussed structural imbalances, supply-chain concerns and the need for “meaningful and predictable market access”. They also welcomed progress in people-to-people ties and called for greater cultural, business and travel links.Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said Beijing would work with New Delhi to implement the understandings reached by the leaders and “make the cooperation list longer”.She said, “As the two leaders have charted the course for the future development of the bilateral ties, China will work with India to implement the important common understandings reached between the two leaders.”With China set to assume the BRICS chairmanship in 2027, both sides are expected to build on the latest engagement.
