BEIJING: China’s top diplomat urged India to focus on “common interests”and meet China “halfway” to defuse border tensions between Asia’s mostpopulous neighbours, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Saturday.
Relations between India and China have deteriorated in recent months overtheir contested Himalayan border, and a visa spat in which the two sideshave expelled nearly all of each other’s journalists.
“China and India’s common interests clearly outweigh their differences,”Wang Yi told Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, when the twomet on Friday on the sidelines of Southeast Asian talks in Jakarta, theChinese foreign ministry said in a statement.
“The two sides should support each other, rather than… suspect each other,”Mr Wang added.
India and its northern neighbour are locked in a military standoff alongtheir mostly undemarcated border in the Ladakh region.
Beijing also claims the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh as part of Tibet,and it considers Kashmir a disputed territory. “It is hoped that the Indianside will meet China halfway and find a solution to the border issue thatis acceptable to both sides,” Mr Wang said.
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The two countries have agreed to hold the next round of militarycommander-level talks on the border issue “as soon as possible”, theministry statement said.
Despite frosty relations, China is India’s second-largest trade partner.
In 2020, India sought to limit investments from China as political tensionsheightened between them, with their soldiers clashing in the disputedHimalayan region.
“China is highly concerned about India’s recent restrictive measuresagainst Chinese companies,” Mr Wang added, while urging New Delhi toprovide a “fair, transparent and non-discriminatory business environment”.APP/AFP
