Will work closesly to deal with 'outstanding issues': Modi tells China's Li

Beijing/New Delhi: Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang on Thursday conveyed his government’s desire to establish robust partnership with the new government during a call to his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, who expressed keenness to work closely to deal with any “outstanding issues”. [caption id=“attachment_1549603” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. Reuters[/caption] The call by Li, the first foreign Head of Government to call up Modi since he took over as Prime Minister, came after China’s decision on Wednesday to send its Foreign Minister Wang Yi on 8 June as special envoy to meet the new leadership including External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. During the 25-minute telephonic conversation, Li conveyed the Chinese government’s desire to establish robust partnership with the new Indian government for further development of relations between the two nations, the Spokesperson in the External Affairs Ministry said. Modi, on his part, noted that China was always a “priority” in India’s foreign policy and welcomed greater economic engagement between the two countries. Modi underlined his government’s resolve to utilise the full potential of “our strategic and cooperative partnership with China and his keenness to work closely with the Chinese leadership to deal with any outstanding issues in bilateral relations by proceeding from the strategic perspective of our developmental goals and long-term benefits to our peoples”. The two leaders agreed to maintain frequent high-level exchanges and communication. China has officially conveyed its decision to send Wang, a seasoned diplomat, to greet Modi and interact with other leaders in his Council of Ministers. Modi also thanked Li for his earlier message of felicitations and extended an invitation through him to President Xi Jinping to pay a visit to India later this year. China had formally greeted Modi and sent a special message through Indian Ambassador to Beijing Ashok K Kantha during his meetings with Wang and State Councillor and Special Representative for the border dispute Yang Jiechi. Li had also formally greeted Modi immediately after he was sworn-in as Prime Minister, saying China viewed India as a “natural cooperative partner” and was ready to work with the new Indian government to take their strategic cooperative partnership to a “new level”. China has already conveyed its interest in having a top Indian leader attend the 60th anniversary of Panchasheel, the five principles enunciated jointly by former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and his then Chinese counterpart Zhou Enlai in 1954. Chinese government is hosting a function to mark the occasion on 28 June in which high level delegation from Myanmar, which was also associated with the Panchasheel concept, is expected to participate. Xi and Modi will have an opportunity to meet during the next BRICS, (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) to be held in Brazil in July. Xi, stated to be the most powerful leader after late Deng Xiaoping, had expressed his desire to visit New Delhi soon after the new government was formed to strike rapport with new Indian leaders. Li’s call to Modi came in the backdrop of China’s request for the presence of President Pranab Mukherjee at the 60th anniversary of the Panchasheel, the five principles jointly proposed by former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru with his then Chinese counterpart Zhou Enlai in 1954. China plans to hold the celebrations of Panchasheel on 28 June in which Presidents of China and Myanmar are expected to take part. In his telephone talk with Modi, Li broached the topic of five principles which stands for peaceful co-existence with mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression, non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful co-existence. On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of Panchasheel, China is willing to further strengthen cooperation with India and jointly push ahead the construction of the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar economic corridor (BCIM, Li told Modi. China mooted BCIM to connect old route between the two countries linking the Chinese city of Kunming with India’s North East. China was also willing to enhance exchanges in the humanistic field and other areas and look for more converging points of interest to jointly make contributions to the peace, stability and prosperity in the region and the world, Li said. Li also told Modi that with concerted efforts by both sides, relations between China and India had developed significantly in recent years and the two countries had jointly explored a way to relate to each other, in which cooperation was actively explored and differences were properly managed and controlled. China has praised the contribution of former prime minister Manmohan Singh for his contribution to the development of ties in the last 10 years. PTI