As troops from both the sides have disengaged from the last stand-off site in Ladakh, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday said normalisation of ties between India and China is in the interest of everyone, including the world at large.
Stressing this point in a meeting with outgoing Chinese ambassador to New Delhi Sun Weidong here, he also said peace and tranquility in the border areas is essential.
Incidentally, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping will be present at the G-20 summit in Bali, Indonesia in mid-November. However, there is no official word on the likelihood of a bilateral meeting between the two leaders on the sidelines of the summit. They were present at the Shanghai Co-0peration Organisation(SCO)summit in mid-September in Uzbekistan.
After meeting Sun, Jaishankar said in a Twitter message "The normalization of India-China relations is in the interest of both countries, of Asia and the world at large."
“Emphasised that the development of India-China relations is guided by the 3 Mutuals. Peace and tranquility in the border areas is essential,” he said.
The outgoing ambassador in his farewell speech called for a non-interference policy and said both sides should deepen mutual understanding to avoid 'miscalculation and misunderstanding'.
Indicating that resolution and dialogue should be used for pending issues, Sun said it was 'only natural' for China and India to have some differences'. He, however, did not mention about the tension at the Line of Actual Control(LAC)in Eastern Ladakh for the last two years.
"The key is how to handle the differences. We should be aware that the common interests of the two countries are greater than the differences. Meanwhile, the two sides should strive to manage and resolve differences, and look for a proper solution through dialogue and consultation, instead of defining China-India relations by differences," he said.
Jaishankar has in the past referred to the “three mutuals”, or mutual respect, mutual sensitivity and mutual interest, in the context of India-China relations in several of his speeches. He has also maintained that the overall bilateral relationship cannot be normalised till there is peace and tranquility on the LAC.
In his farewell remarks on Tuesday, the Chinese envoy sought to imply that differences between New Delhi and Beijing were due to the “Western theory of geopolitics”, which he said will only lead to “competition and confrontation” and a zero-sum game.
“We should seek common ground while reserving differences and properly handle the differences. China and India are important neighbors to each other. It is only natural for China and India having some differences,” Sun said.
India and China need to respect each other’s political systems and uphold the principle of non-interference in internal affairs, the outgoing envoy said in his remarks posted on the Chinese embassy website on Tuesday.
“China and India are important neighbours…it is only natural for China and India to have some differences. The key is how to handle the differences. We should be aware that the common interests of the two countries are greater than differences.”