Foreign ministers of China and India to hold talks

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China’s State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi will hold talks with visiting Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Sunday, as announced by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Swaraj is visiting China at the invitation of Wang.

Swaraj arrived in Beijing late Saturday on a four-day visit and will also attend the meeting of the council of foreign ministers of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member countries in the Chinese capital on April 24. Prior to the SCO meeting, Swaraj and the other foreign ministers would also call on Chinese President Xi Jinping on April 23.

During the talks between Wang and Swaraj, “the two sides will have an in-depth exchange of views on China-India relations and international and regional issues of common interest,” China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told a press conference on Wednesday.

“We believe that External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj's visit to China will further enhance political mutual trust and promote the sustained and steady development of China-India relations,” she added.

The Beijing meeting of the SCO foreign ministers’ council will be the first after the enlargement of the organization last year when India and Pakistan were admitted in the regional grouping. The meeting is aimed at laying the groundwork for the Qingdao summit. The organization is comprised of China, Russia, India, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.

Swaraj’s visit comes amid signs of growing bilateral engagements between China and India, following last year’s acrimonious border standoff. In recent months, there has been a significant spurt in the number of top-level bilateral visits amid new optimism on both sides to improve ties after last summer’s 73-day Donglang border standoff.

India's External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj (left) is greeted by the Indian Ambassador to China Gautam Bambawale ( center) upon her arrival in Beijing, April 21, 2018. /Photo via Embassy of India, Beijing

Wang Yi and State Councilor Yang Jiechi visited New Delhi in separate trips in December 2017, which were followed by India’s Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale’s visit to Beijing in February this year.

Press Trust of India reported that India’s Defense Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will arrive in Beijing on April 23 to take part in the SCO defense ministers' meeting to be held the next day. Sitharaman is also expected to meet her Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to take part in the SCO summit in Qingdao this June.

China and India also held the 11th Joint Economic Group meeting last month followed by the fifth Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED) earlier this month. Also this month, both sides held crucial talks on disarmament and non-proliferation in Beijing.

“Since the beginning of this year, China-India relations have witnessed a positive momentum of development. China stands ready to work with India to maintain the exchange of high-level visits, expand pragmatic cooperation, properly manage differences and move forward bilateral relations,” said Hua.

Last month on the sidelines of the 13th National People’s Congress in Beijing, Wang Yi famously said: “The Chinese dragon and Indian elephant must not fight each other but dance together. If China and India are united, one plus one will equal not only two, but also 11."

India has since asserted that New Delhi isn’t threatened by Beijing’s rise but considers its northern neighbor as a “partner in progress and development” and looks to learn from its tremendous growth story.

“As two major developing countries and emerging markets, China and India are each other's important neighbors. The leaders of the two countries have set the goal of forging an even closer developmental partnership, which has guided bilateral cooperation in various areas to make great progress,” said Hua.

[Cover Photo: India's Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj (left) and her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi at a BRICS foreign ministers meeting on the sidelines of the 70th session of the United Nations General Assembly, in New York, US, September 29, 2015. /VCG Photo]

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