In boost to ties, China's top diplomat hosts visiting Indian official

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) - China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi hosted on Monday visiting Indian Foreign Affairs Secretary Vikram Misri, signaling progress in bilateral ties.

Wang met with Misri, who is on an official trip to Beijing for bilateral consultations with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong.

The two-day trip comes as China and India last year announced a breakthrough to resolve the border dispute in Ladakh along the Line of Actual Control in the disputed Jammu and Kashmir region. Relations strained after clashes between their troops in 2020 that killed 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers.​​​​​​​

“China and India should seize the opportunity to meet each other halfway, explore more substantive measures, and commit themselves to mutual understanding, mutual support and mutual achievement, rather than mutual suspicion, alienation and mutual depletion,” Wang told Misri, according to a readout from Beijing.

The improvement and development of China-India relations “is fully in line with the fundamental interests of the two countries and their peoples, is conducive to safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of the global South countries,” said Wang.

He added that such a trajectory in bilateral ties between two Himalayan neighbors was “conducive to making contributions of the two ancient civilizations to peace, stability, development and prosperity in Asia and the world.”

Misri landed in Beijing on Sunday and met with Liu Jianchao, who leads the international department of the Communist Party of China.