Chinese, Indian diplomats call for warmer relations
January 28, 2025 00:00:00
BEIJING, Jan 27 (AP): The top diplomats of China and India called for their nations to provide further mutual support, but avoided publicly mentioning a long-standing border dispute in the Himalayas when they met Monday in Beijing.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told top Indian foreign affairs official Vikram Misri that the sides "should seize the opportunity, meet each other halfway, explore more substantive measures, and strive to understand, support and achieve each other, rather than be suspicious of, alienate and consume each other," China's official Xinhua News Agency reported.
It cited Misri as saying the nuclear-armed Asian giants have "properly managed and resolved differences, and promoted the restart of practical cooperation in various fields."
Ties have been stable since the leaders of the two countries met last year on the sidelines of a multinational summit in Russia. Days before that meeting, India announced the two sides had agreed to a pact on military patrols along their disputed border in the Himalayas after a spike in tensions that began with a deadly clash in 2020.
That turned into a long-running standoff in the rugged mountainous area, where each side has stationed tens of thousands of military personnel backed by artillery, tanks and fighter jets.