Amid efforts aimed at rapprochement, India on Wednesday impressed on China the need to take positive steps to create the right environment for improved bilateral relations.
Chinese Vice-Minister of the International Department of the Communist Party of China (IDCPC) Sun Haiyan, who is on a three-day visit to India, met Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri this afternoon.
The discussions covered the progress made in stabilising and rebuilding bilateral ties with priority on business and people-centric engagements, and ways to take bilateral engagement forward in the New Year. The Chinese side congratulated the Indian side on assuming the BRICS chairmanship this year and expressed its strong support for a successful BRICS Summit in India, the Ministry of External Affairs said.
Sun briefed the top Indian diplomat on her impressions from the visit, including her interactions with Indian media, think tanks, and political parties. She also conveyed the expectations of the Chinese side to enhance exchanges under the MEA-IDCPC Programme.
Misri noted the importance of increasing the understanding between the people of the two countries in order to rebuild ties.
Both sides reiterated their commitment to implementing the important directions provided by their leaders and to advancing bilateral relations on the path of normalisation.
The meeting comes close on the heels of the exchange of barbs between the two countries over the Shaksgam Valley in Jammu and Kashmir.
Sun is leading a high-powered CPC, which has already held talks with senior functionaries of the RSS and the BJP. The CPC delegation’s meeting with the BJP delegation was the first party-to-party contact between the ruling parties of the two countries since the protracted border row in eastern Ladakh, which brought the two countries to the brink of war.
The Congress has questioned the timing and intent of the BJP’s meeting with the CPC delegation, coming as it does at a time when China has laid claim to the Shaksgam Valley.