Xi's visit to India removed 'some suspicions' between the countries: China

Beijing: China on Monday said President Xi Jinping’s visit to India removed “some suspicions” between the two countries, pushed the ties to a “new age” and during talks an “important consensus” was reached on politically resolving the border issue through friendly coordination. [caption id=“attachment_1724655” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Chinese President Xi Jinping (left) with Indian PM Narendra Modi (right). PTI[/caption] “We can say President Xi’s visit to India has removed some of the suspicions of two countries and pushed bilateral relations to a new age,” Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying told a media briefing in Beijing. Her remarks came in reply to a question on the continued border standoff in Chumar area of Ladakh region between the troops of two sides and the likely negative impact of it on the just-concluded visit of Xi. “As for the border issue, you mentioned whether it will influence President Xi’s visit, I want to say that this is totally unnecessary suspicion because two leaders have reached important consensus on politically resolving the border issue through friendly coordination,” Hua said. Also, “we have an effective mechanism for the border issue. Through effective communication we can resolve and control some disputes,” she said. “So, we believe China and India have sufficient capacity and confidence to maintain peace and tranquility of boundary areas and we are confident in this and we believe that this is very important for the sound development of Sino-India relations as well as of the whole region,” Hua said. “Pending final settlement, peace and stability on border should be maintained,” she said. Talking about Xi’s three-day visit to India last week, Hua said the Chinese President has concluded a successful state visit to India and was warmly welcomed by the Indian people and government. “During his visit, leaders of two countries stressed the importance and global influence of Sino-India relations. They agreed to carry forward friendship between two countries so that cooperation remains the main theme of bilateral relations,” she said. Hua recalled Xi’s speech during the India visit in which he said “Chinese dragon” and “Indian elephant” live in harmony and can make inclusive development which will bring benefits to the whole world. Asked about the cancellation of the visit of a Chinese media delegation to India, Hua said she was not aware of the specifics. “But as far as I am concerned I believe that close communication between Chinese and Indian media is conducive to strengthening communication between two countries, cementing and developing public foundation of bilateral relations,” Hua said. “I would like to make further check but I hope that the two countries can maintain exchanges at the media level so as to play an important role in improving bilateral relations,” she said. PTI