China Seeks 'Strategic' Ties as Xi Jinping Arrives in India for BRICS Summit
China says it wants to handle ties with India from a strategic and long-term perspective, as Xi Jinping arrives for his first visit in seven years.
China has said it is ready to work with India to manage their relationship from what it described as a strategic height and a long-term perspective, ahead of President Xi Jinping's first visit to India in seven years.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Mr. Xi are scheduled to hold talks on Saturday on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in New Delhi. It will be the third consecutive year the two leaders have met, following earlier meetings in Kazan and Tianjin, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said.
The spokesperson said China would act on the strategic guidance of the two leaders, increase communication, expand cooperation and properly handle differences, describing the two countries as friends enjoying good neighbourliness and partners helping each other.
At the summit, Mr. Xi is expected to present China's initiatives and propositions and set out a direction for greater cooperation within BRICS. The grouping, the spokesperson said, has become an important platform for emerging market and developing countries to uphold solidarity and cooperation, and has grown into a force representing the Global South.
In China, the visit is being viewed as an opportunity to continue the gradual normalisation of bilateral relations and to enable closer cooperation under the broader BRICS framework as ties improve. An expert on China's relations with developing countries noted that the trip is a major highlight, adding that the two countries are not only close neighbours but also founding members and major participants in BRICS. The state of their relationship has a direct bearing on the development of the grouping, the expert said, with multilateral platforms creating opportunities for bilateral engagement and improved ties in turn aiding coordination within such mechanisms.