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A top Indian diplomat made a surprise visit to Beijing and held talks with senior Chinese officials on Friday and Saturday, in what is being seen as an effort to iron out some of the differences on a range of issues that have caused tensions in bilateral ties between the Asian neighbors in recent times.
Reported in both China’s news agency Xinhua and a number of Indian news organisations, India’s Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale held talks with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou, and also called on State Councilor Yang Jiechi and Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
Yang, during his meeting with Gokhale, called for strong strategic communication and proper resolution of sensitive issues, according to a Xinhua report on Saturday.
"China and India, as important neighbors and fast-growing emerging economies, have a lot of common interests," Yang said. He called on the two sides to deepen strategic communication, beef up mutually beneficial cooperation and properly settle sensitive issues, based on the consensus reached by leaders of the two countries.
India's Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale (L) during his meeting with China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing, China.
A statement from the Indian Embassy said the officials from both sides "noted the need to build on the convergences between India and China and address differences on the basis of mutual respect and sensitivity to each other’s concerns, interests and aspirations."
Gokhale, a known China-hand within the Indian establishment, was New Delhi’s ambassador to Beijing until last October before he was appointed as the top diplomat in India’s Ministry of External Affairs last month. His elevation is being seen as a sign of the vital role China plays in India’s foreign policy and raised the prospects of normalization of bilateral ties after last summer’s Donglang standoff.
Wang said that the two sides should enhance strategic mutual trust and accelerate common development in line with the political consensus of the leaders of the two countries, according to a statement by the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
"We hope that the Indian side will handle sensitive issues prudently and work with China to promote the sound development of China-India relations," Wang said.
A fluent Mandarin speaker, Gokhale said he was pleased to visit China at the very beginning of his term. He said India attached great importance to ties with China and stood ready to strengthen high-level exchanges, promote strategic mutual trust, expand all-round cooperation, and properly settle sensitive issues, so as to advance bilateral ties, according to Xinhua.
"Both sides underlined that as two major countries, sound development of relations between India and China is a factor of stability in the world today. The two sides also exchanged views on regional and international issues of common interest,” a statement from the Indian Embassy on Saturday said.
Both Wang and Yang visited New Delhi last December to re-start the bilateral dialogue after a 73-day Donglang standoff last year.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to visit China this June to take part in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Qingdao City. Gokhale’s deliberations in Beijing are also viewed as laying the groundwork for Modi’s likely visit later this year.
(CGTN)
