Peace on border a must for ties, India tells China

Beijing: India said maintaining peace in the border areas with China was an “essential pre-requisite” for the smooth development of bilateral ties as external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj held crucial talks with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi to reset the relations after the Doklam standoff.

Swaraj and Wang also exchanged views on cooperation on multilateral arena and discussed their perspectives on counter-terrorism and collaborative efforts to address other global challenges, such as climate change and sustainable development.

Swaraj arrived here on Saturday on a four-day visit to take part in the foreign ministers’ meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) from Monday.

She was received by Wang at the Diaoyutai state guest house in Beijing ahead of their bilateral meeting.

This was their first meeting after Wang was elevated as state councillor last month which makes him the top diplomat of the country in the Chinese hierarchy. He also continues to be the foreign minister.

Wang, 64, succeeds his senior colleague Yang Jiechi who has now become a politburo member of the Communist Party of China’s (CPC).

During the meeting, Wang announced that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping will hold an informal summit from April 27-28 in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

In her initial remarks, Swaraj congratulated Wang on being elevated as state councillor and appointed the special representative for the India-China boundary talks.

“This shows how much trust your leadership has in your abilities. I think your new responsibilities will improve India-China relations,” she said.

“We will work closely with the Chinese leadership to take India-China cooperation to new heights,” she said before the meeting.

“While making efforts to progress our relations in diverse areas, we underlined that maintaining peace and tranquillity in the India-China border areas is an essential pre-requisite for the smooth development of bilateral ties,” she said in a press statement with Wang after the meeting.