China's Wang Yi meets Indian FM Jaishankar on bilateral ties

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on Thursday on the sidelines of the Group of 20 (G20) foreign ministers' meeting in Bali, Indonesia.

Wang said at the meeting that since March this year, China and India have maintained communication and exchanges, effectively managed differences, and the bilateral relations have generally shown a recovery momentum.

China and India, Wang said, share common interests and similar legitimate claims. As the world is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century, major countries like China and India will definitely not go with the flow, but are destined to uphold strategic determination, achieve their respective development and revitalization in accordance with the established goals, and make greater contributions to the future of mankind.

Wang said the two countries should take practical actions to implement the important consensus of the leaders of the two countries that "the two countries are not each other's threats, but cooperation partners and development opportunities."

He also said the two countries should push for the early return of the bilateral relations to the right track and light up the bright future of the relations together.

Wang said China appreciates India's support for its hosting BRICS meetings and the High-level Dialogue on Global Development in June, and it will support India's work in 2023 as the next rotating chair of the G20 countries and of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

Noting that both countries, as advocates of multilateralism, share views in areas ranging from safeguarding peace and security, boosting economic recovery, improving global governance, to jointly combating COVID-19, Wang said they should strengthen coordination and cooperation, and join efforts to make international relations more democratic, international order fairer, the developing countries' voices to be heard more and their legitimate interests better maintained.

Jaishankar said since the meeting of the two foreign ministers in March, the two sides have made positive progress in terms of safeguarding stability along the borders, promoting practical cooperation and facilitating people-to-people exchanges.

He noted that the Indian side looks forward to a positive, cooperative and constructive India-China relationship, and stands ready to work with China to release a clear signal to push for the improvement of bilateral ties, and turn the consensus and vision of the two leaders into tangible results.

He thanked China's support for India's role as the next rotating chair of the G20 and the SCO in 2023. India would continue upholding strategic autonomy and an independent position on international affairs.

Both sides agreed to support Indonesia in successfully hosting the G20 meetings this year, jointly push the meetings to focus on the central topics, and help global post-pandemic recovery.

Wang is here to attend the G20 foreign ministers' meeting on Thursday and Friday. He is on an Asia tour, which takes him to Myanmar, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia.