PM meets Chinese foreign min, lauds ‘steady progress’ in ties

Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasised the importance of maintaining peace and tranquillity on the border ata meeting with Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi on Tuesday, and reiterated India’s commitment to a “fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable” resolution of the boundary issue.

- Rezaul H Laskar

India-China ties have made steady progress since last year due torespect{or each other's interests and sensitivities, and stable and constructive bilateral relations will contribute to regional and global peace, Modi said, ahead of his first visit to China after the end of the four-year military standoff on the Line of Actual Control (LAC). The growing thaw in relations has coincided with a strain in relations between New Delhi and Washington, primarily over the trade and tariff policies of the Donald Trump administration in the US.

Modi met Wang, the first Chinese minister to visit India since the disengagement of forces on the LAC last October, following his talks on the border issue with National Security Adviser Ajit Doval. Wang also met external affairs minister S Jaishankar on Monday. Experts said the visitand the meetings also served the purpose of highlighting India’s strategic options.