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New Delhi: India on Sunday said that differences with China should not be allowed to turn into disputes and emphasised that cooperation between the two Asian giants was essential for realising an "Asian century" and building a multipolar world order.
Briefing reporters on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Tianjin, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed that the two countries were primarily focused on domestic development goals and, in this pursuit, were "partners rather than rivals".
"It was also an element of consensus between them that a stable and amicable relationship between India and China can benefit the 2.8 billion people who live in the two countries," Misri added.
The two leaders met earlier in the day in what was their second bilateral meeting in less than a year. Their previous interaction took place in Kazan in October 2024 during the BRICS summit, where they had outlined strategic guidelines for the relationship.
Misri said both sides welcomed the progress achieved since Kazan, particularly in people-to-people exchanges, and discussed principles expected to guide the future course of bilateral ties.
The boundary question, which triggered a tense standoff along the Line of Actual Control in 2020, also figured in the talks. Modi and Xi acknowledged the successful disengagement carried out last year and the maintenance of peace and tranquillity in border areas since then.
The Prime Minister stressed that continued peace on the frontier was essential for smooth development of bilateral relations. Both sides agreed to rely on existing mechanisms to manage the border and prevent disturbances to the overall relationship.
According to Misri, President Xi made four suggestions to strengthen ties. "President Xi made four suggestions to further upgrade bilateral relations, namely to strengthen strategic communication and deepen mutual trust, to expand exchanges and cooperation, to achieve mutual benefit and win-win results, to accommodate each other's concerns, and finally to strengthen multilateral cooperation to safeguard common interests," Misri said adding that all of these were responded to positively by Prime Minister Modi.
The Prime Minister is also scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, along with interactions with other world leaders on the sidelines of the summit.
