New Delhi: Chinese foreign minister and state councillor Wang Yi, on Friday, said that 2018 was an important year in the history of Sino-Indian ties. Speaking at the annual press conference in Beijing, Yi said the Wuhan summit between President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had opened up “a new model of high-level exchanges between China and India, enhanced mutual trust and friendship between the leaders of the two countries, and also clarified the future direction of China-India relations.”
Interestingly, Yi also hinted that his government had mediated between India and Pakistan earlier to de-escalate tensions following the February 26 air strikes.
China had earlier praised Pakistan's "restraint" and willingness to talk with India to ease tensions between the two countries after the Pulwama terror attack in Kashmir last month.
Pakistan is currently facing pressure from global powers to crackdown on groups carrying out attacks in India, including Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), which had claimed responsibility for the February 14 attack on a CRPF envoy.
Visiting Pakistan on Wednesday, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou said Beijing and Islamabad were "all-weather" strategic partners and that they always supported each other, China's Foreign Ministry said in a statement later.
“We hope the two countries can help each other and prosper together, meet each other halfway and turn the crisis into opportunities to realize stability and development,” Yi said. Commenting on China’s peaceful measures, Yi said that his country did not believe in being aggressive. “Being aggressive has never been a tradition in China, and hegemony is not our choice. Of course, like other countries, China will safeguard its legitimate rights and interests, and will not tolerate any infringement on its sovereignty and dignity,” the foreign minister said.
The foreign minister also said that as the two largest developing nations and emerging economies, it was important to mutually realize our dream partners, “become important opportunities for developing our own economy and work towards revitalization and prosperity of Asia.”
Over the past year, the foreign minister added, the two governments have achieved many results towards implementing the consensus of the two leaders. “The key now is how to expand the strategic consensus of the leaders of the two countries into a common understanding of the social circles of the two countries and translate them into the conscious actions of the two peoples,” he added.
China, Yi said, was willing to work with India to comprehensively strengthen pragmatic cooperation and humanities exchange “so that China-India friendship and cooperation will flow forward like the Yangtze River and the Ganges River, and inject a strong and lasting impetus into the development of bilateral relations.”
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