China: Wang Yi’s India visit an opportunity to boost ‘political mutual trust’

Beijing – China on Monday said Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit to India would provide an opportunity for both countries to strengthen political trust and advance the consensus reached between President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year.

Wang arrived in India on Monday afternoon for a two-day visit during which he will hold the 24th round of Special Representatives (SR) talks on the boundary issue with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. The discussions are expected to cover a range of matters, including the border situation, trade, and resumption of flights.

Responding to questions on the visit, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Beijing hopes to use this occasion to “maintain the momentum of high-level exchanges, enhance political mutual trust, strengthen practical cooperation, properly manage differences, and promote the sustained, healthy, and stable development of China-India relations.” Chinese Ambassador to India Xu Feihong shared the remarks on X.

During his stay, Wang will also meet External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and call on Prime Minister Modi on Tuesday. The talks come ahead of Modi’s trip to China later this month for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Tianjin—his first visit since the 2020 Galwan clash that sharply strained ties.

India and China recently agreed on a new patrolling framework along the nearly 3,500-km Line of Actual Control (LAC), paving the way for a breakthrough after four years of border tensions following the Galwan Valley confrontation.

In recent months, several high-level exchanges have taken place:

• In July, EAM Jaishankar visited China for the SCO Foreign Ministers’ meeting, where he also met Wang Yi and President Xi Jinping.

• In June, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh attended the SCO Defence Ministers’ meet in China, though India refused to endorse the joint declaration due to the omission of terrorism-related concerns.

• Also in June, NSA Doval joined the SCO Security Council Secretaries’ meeting in Beijing, where he urged members to avoid double standards in fighting terrorism and to act against UN-proscribed groups like LeT and JeM.

With inputs from IANS