China and India should build on the progress made in their improving relations, view each other as partners rather than rivals and work towards their shared goals, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in Beijing on Sunday.
Wang made the remarks in response to a question on the current state of China-India relations at a press conference on the sidelines of the fourth session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC), China's national legislature.
Wang noted how ties have been strengthened between the two countries following meetings between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in north China's port city of Tianjin last August, and at the BRICS summit in Russia's Kazan in 2024.
"In August last year, President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a successful meeting in Tianjin. Building on the fresh start enabled by their Kazan meeting in 2024, it brought about further improvement in China-India relations. Both sides are earnestly implementing the important understandings of our leaders. We are heartened to see reenergized interactions at all levels, a new record in bilateral trade, and closer people-to-people exchanges. All this has brought tangible benefits to the two peoples," Wang said.
"As important neighbors and members of the Global South, China and India share deep cultural ties and extensive common interests. Mutual trust and cooperation is beneficial to the development of the two countries, while division and confrontation is detrimental to the rejuvenation of Asia. The two sides should follow the direction set by the leaders of the two countries, remove interference, and advance toward the same goals," he said.
The foreign minister outlined four priorities. First, both sides should uphold a correct strategic perception and implement the positioning of being partners rather than rivals, regarding each other as opportunities rather than threats.
Second, both sides should uphold good-neighborliness and friendship, and jointly safeguard peace and stability in the border areas.
Third, both sides should focus on development as the greatest common denominator and promote more visible outcomes in practical cooperation.
Fourth, the two countries should demonstrate a sense of responsibility and support each other in successively assuming the rotating chair of BRICS this year and next, to bring new hope to the vast number of Global South countries through more substantive BRICS cooperation.
China, India should build on improvement in relations, work toward shared goals: Chinese FM
