Wang Yi Holds Talks with Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar

On March 25, 2022 local time, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in New Delhi during his working visit to India.

Wang Yi said, as two neighboring ancient civilizations and the two largest developing countries and representatives of emerging economies with a combined population of 2.8 billion, China and India are two main forces in promoting multi-polarization of the world, economic globalization, diversity of civilizations, and democratization of international relations. As the world is entering a new phase of turbulence and transformation, the two countries should strengthen communication, coordinate stances, safeguard respective legitimate interests and the common interests of the developing countries, and make respective contributions to peace and stability in the region and beyond.

Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said, India attaches great importance to its relations with China, with no changes made in its strategic assessment of the importance of China. India is ready to strengthen communication with China and enhance mutual trust, so as to get the bilateral relations out of the trough as soon as possible, and continuously push for pragmatic cooperation between the two countries.

Wang Yi said, as mature and rational major developing countries, China and India should put the boundary issue in a proper place in bilateral relations, and should not let the boundary issue define or even affect the overall development of bilateral relations. China and India should help each other succeed, rather than engage in attrition; support each other, rather than exclude each other. The two sides need to uphold the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries that "China and India pose no threat but offer development opportunities to each other", properly resolve the boundary question, and manage and control differences, so as to contribute to the development of bilateral relations.

Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said, India and China have maintained effective communication via diplomatic and military channels since last year. After rounds of the corps commander level meeting and meetings of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on China-India Border Affairs, the two militaries have realized disengagement in most parts of the border areas' western sector, and should disengage each other in the remaining parts as soon as possible.

The two sides agreed that it is in the common interests of both countries to restore peace and tranquility in the border areas, and the two countries should achieve regular management and control of the areas on the basis of disengagement, and take effective measures to avoid misunderstanding and misjudgment.

The two sides believe that China and India share the same or similar positions on major international and regional issues. Efforts should be made to understand and support each other to provide more positive energy to the unstable world.

The two sides agreed to engage in dialogue and communication on deepening economic and trade cooperation, facilitating personnel exchanges, and promoting exchanges on the transboundary river hydrology.

The two sides also exchanged views on the prevention and control of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ukraine, Afghanistan, and multilateral affairs, and agreed that multilateralism should be upheld, the UN Charter and international law should be abided by, and disputes should be settled peacefully via dialogue. The two sides also expressed grave concerns over the impact of unilateral sanctions on the global economy and supply chain security.

On the same day, Wang Yi also met with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval of India.