External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has said that India and China should respect each other’s core concerns and manage their differences.
In an extensive interview, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar averred that India and China should find stronger areas of convergence and manage their differences, while respecting each other’s core concerns. “Our relationship is so big that it is no longer a bilateral relationship. It has global dimensions,” he said. “A lot of people, including young people of both countries, really don’t have a good understanding of how much our two cultures of civilisations have affected each other,” he added. Jaishankar further stated that “promoting a greater awareness of that history” through cultural exchanges of prime importance.
During his three- day visit to Beijing, the minister held in-depth conversation with his counterpart Wang Yi on India-China ties. He also met Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan during the visit.
Jaishankar co-chaired the 2nd meeting of the China-India high-level people-to-people exchanges mechanism with Wang Yi in order to promote friendship between the people of the two countries.
Jaishankar asserted that the co-operation between the two countries is of prime importance in light of its developing and augmenting economies. In April last year, the two countries had agreed to hold a high-level people-to-people exchanges mechanism and the first meeting transpired in New Delhi in December. Jaishankar commended the move to take bilateral relationship from “the narrow diplomatic field to a larger societal interaction”. “It’s important for our relationship to build popular support. Our people must feel good about each other,” he opined.
This was Jaishankar’s first visit to China since he assumed the office as the External Affairs Minister. He had earlier been designated as India’s envoy to China from 2009 to 2013.
Also read: http://diplomacybeyond.com/india-and-china-should-respect-each-others-core-concerns-says-jaishankar/