India-China ties : Wang Yi meets Vikram Misri in Beijing, bats for ‘mutual support’ rather than ‘suspicion’

BEIJING : In an effort to improve India-China relations, India’s foreign secretary Vikram Misri is on a two-day visit to Beijing.

Vikram Misri and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called for mutual support and understanding during the talks.

“The two sides should seize the opportunity, meet each other halfway, explore more substantive measures, and commit to mutual understanding, mutual support, and mutual achievement, rather than mutual suspicion, mutual alienation, and mutual consumption,” Wang said, according to a statement issued by the Chinese foreign ministry in Beijing.

He also said the improvement and development of China-India relations is in the fundamental interests of the two countries and their peoples and is conducive to safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of the global South Asian nations.

During the meeting with Misri, Wang said since the meeting between President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in Russia last year, the two nations have earnestly implemented the important consensus reached by the leaders.

Besides being the Foreign Minister, Wang is a member of the powerful political bureau of the ruling Communist Party and China’s Special Representative for the India-China border mechanism.

Wang-Doval meet

Misri’s visit to the neighbouring country followed last month’s talks between Wang and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, the Special Representative from the Indian side, under the Special Representatives mechanism.

On Sunday, Misri held a meeting with Liu Jianchao, head of the influential International Department of the ruling Communist Party which sets the tone for China’s foreign policy.

Both the sides exchanged views on jointly implementing the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two nations.

The Line of Actual Control separates Chinese and Indian-held territories from Ladakh in the west to Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims in its entirety.

Both India and China have withdrawn troops from face-off sites on the northern and southern banks of Pangong Tso, Gogra and Galwan Valley, but they maintain extra troops at Demchok and Depsang Plains.