China, India conclude “very positive” talks
February 12, 2014, 5:28 am

Indian Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari (C) and Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi (R) look at a photo of late Chinese leader Chairman Mao Zedong and India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru during the launching ceremony of the Year of China-India Friendly Exchanges in New Delhi, India, Feb. 11, 2014 [Xinhua]

“The Prime Minister was very positive about the result of the meeting and as usual, he showed such wisdom for the furtherance of our relationship and this is a very important message I would take back to the leadership in China,” said Yang after meeting Singh.

The Chinese State Councillor quoted Chinese and Indian poets Ji Xianlin and Tagore who described the ‘intertwined destinies’ of the “two time- honored and intimate brothers China and India”.

“Just as Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pointed out unanimously, the Chinese dream is closely linked with the Indian dream and they fit in to each other very nicely. As long as we work together for common development, we will surely make our respective dreams of national renewal a reality,” said Yang in New Delhi.

The India-China Year of Friendly Exchanges was also launched in New Delhi on Tuesday.

“Since the beginning of the 21st century, China and India have both embarked on the modernization drive and become the world’s most dynamic emerging markets. Thanks to the joint efforts of leaders and people of all sectors in the two countries, China and India have established a strategic and cooperative partnership for peace and prosperity,” said Yang.

Beijing on Tuesday said border talks with India have yielded “initial results”.

“The mechanism of Special Representatives’ Meeting for the Boundary Question, which the two countries set up, has yielded initial results, enabling the two sides to properly handle their boundary-related differences and maintain peace and tranquillity in the border areas,” Yang said after meeting the Indian National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon.

The Special Representatives, who have been engaged in addressing the boundary issue for over eight years, are in the second of the three-phased process.

The current step of building the framework for a settlement is considered the most difficult part.

The third and final phase will be demarcation and delineation of the boundary.

“As long as we work together for common development, we will surely make our respective dreams of national renewal a reality. That not only serves the common interests of the 2.5 billion people in China and India, but is beneficial for Asia and the world as a whole,” Yang said after the meet.

A media briefing by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs also announced that the annual defence dialogue between India and China will be held on the 24^th of February.

“In essence the thrust was that India and China need to work together on a host of international issues of common interest where rules of a global nature are being rewritten. These include rules related to trade, climate change and finance,” said the spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin.

Meanwhile, the Indian Prime Minister Singh told the visiting Chinese special envoy that New Delhi and Beijing will actively participate in the construction of the Bangladesh-India-China-Myanmar economic corridor and the “Silk Road” economic belt.

This new economic corridor project is being driven by strong domestic and external interests of both New Delhi and Beijing.

The corridor will run from China’s Kunming to India’s Kolkata, linking Mandalay in Myanmar as well as Dhaka and Chittagong in Bangladesh.

Singh also said India and China would “strengthen cooperation in G-20, BRICS countries and other multilateral frameworks to help encourage the global political and economic order to move towards a fairer and more reasonable direction”.

TBP