China ready to work with India for 'steady and sound growth' of ties: FM Wang Yi

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Sunday that China is ready to work with India for the steady and sound growth of bilateral ties and the two countries are committed to upholding stability at the border areas where tensions have prevailed since 2020Addressing a symposium on the international situation and Chinas foreign relations in 2022 Wang said both countries have maintained communication through diplomatic and militarytomilitary channelsChina and India have maintained communication through the diplomatic and militarytomilitary channels and both countries are committed to upholding stability in the border areas said Wang who has been elevated to the ruling Communist Party of Chinas CPC highpower political bureau during the recent party CongressWe stand ready to work with India in the direction toward steady and sound growth of ChinaIndia relations he said at the symposiumAlso read Covid19 Strain driving China surge was found in India before but did not cause spikeWang along with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval is the Special Representative of the IndiaChina boundary mechanism which has remained dormant in the present set of border standoffsIn his lengthy address on Chinas diplomatic work Wang focused more on Chinas troubled ties with the US and burgeoning relations with Russia despite the Ukraine warHe briefly touched on IndiaChina relations that have been bogged down since April 2020 when China tried to move a large number of its troops to the disputed areas in Easter Ladakh resulting in a prolonged military standoffThe two countries have held 17 rounds of talks so far to resolve the standoffThe 17th round of the IndiaChina Corps Commander Level Meeting was held on December 20 during which the two sides agreed to stay in close contact and maintain dialogue through military and diplomatic channels and work out a mutually acceptable resolution of the remaining issues at the earliest according to a joint press release issued after the talksEver since the onceinafiveyear Congress of the CPC in October which reelected President Xi Jinping for an unprecedented third fiveyear term speculation is rife about Beijings future course of India policy especially in 2023 and whether it will normalise relations and restore stability at the 3488km long Line of Actual Control LAC which has been witnessing tensions between the two militariesAccording to observers this months clash between Indian and Chinese soldiers at Yangtse in Arunachal Pradesh barely weeks after Xi began his new term spelled danger that 2023 too will end up as yet another blank year in the bilateral tiesIt was the first major clash between the Indian and Chinese armies since the fierce faceoff in the Galwan Valley in June 2020 that marked the most serious military conflict between the two sides in decadesThe ties between the two countries froze since then with India making it clear that peace and tranquillity at the border is the sine qua non for the overall development of bilateral tiesThe PLAs move at Yangtse taking place after the completion of disengagement from many friction points was seen as the reflection of the dilemma prevailing in the Chinese political and military ranks on how to deal with India which is on political ascendency internationallyIn his address on Sunday Wang spoke about Chinas opposition to bloc confrontationBeijing has been opposing the formation of the Quad alliance comprising the US India Australia and Japan as well as the AUKUS alliance of the US Australia and the UKChina claims that such blocs are aimed at containing its riseWe have continued to reject bloc confrontation and zerosum competition and maintained strategic stability in relations with other major countries Wang saidHe said the BRICS countries have projected a resounding voice for global equity and justice and injected strong BRICS impetus into global economic recovery and developmentThe BRICS Brazil Russia India China and South Africa has become the most influential platform for SouthSouth cooperation A host of emerging markets are taking great strides to catch up in terms of global governance turning from followers to forerunners he saidIn his address Wang also briefly touched on Chinas ties with Pakistan saying the two countries have continued to firmly support each other uphold the invaluable allweather strategic partnership and consolidate the ironclad friendshipOn the ChinaUS ties which continued to witness turbulence Wang said we have firmly rejected the United States erroneous China policy and have been exploring the right way for the two countries to get along with each otherAs the United States has stubbornly continued to see China as its primary competitor and engage in blatant blockade suppression and provocation against China ChinaUS relations were plunged into serious difficulties Wang saidOn the Taiwan issue Wang said China has not been intimidated by US bullyingWe have not been intimidated by any hegemonic power or its bullying and have acted resolutely to safeguard Chinas core interests and national dignity he saidHe however spoke highly about the development of ChinaRussia ties notwithstanding Moscows involvement in the Ukraine warWe have deepened goodneighbourliness friendship and cooperation with Russia and made ChinaRussia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination more mature and resilient Wang saidOver the past year China and Russia have firmly supported each other in upholding respective core interests and our political and strategic mutual trust has been further consolidated he saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever