A map showing China-India geography, Credit: CIA Factbook
Asian giants China and India discussed cooperation in the central Chinese town of Wuhan Saturday in the backdrop of recent border tensions and differences over regional security issues.
Solid China-India relations “are an important factor for global peace and stability,” Chinese President Xi Jinping said while meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Speaking at the informal talks, the Chinese leader said the two countries should “engage in an even closer strategic communication.”
In a tweet after the meeting, Narendra Modi said discussions over tea had been productive and that a “strong India-China friendship is beneficial for the people of our nations and the entire world.”
The talks covered economic issues, along with people-to-people relations, agriculture, technology, energy and tourism, Modi said in his tweet.
The meeting comes amid tensions over the contested China-India border and a rivalry for influence in South Asia.
The countries fought a border war in 1962 and last year engaged in a 10-week standoff. New Delhi has also been alarmed by China’s moves to build ties with regional nations including Pakistan.
China has been critical of India’s hosting of the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, and its control of territory Beijing says belongs to it.
After last year’s standoff, New Delhi withdrew troops from the disputed Doklam Plateau in the Himalaya region. But despite such differences, Modi hopes that China can help drive Indian economic growth ahead of national elections next year.
But New Delhi has expressed reservations over Beijing’s ambitious “Belt and Road” initiative that will expand China’s influence through new linkages with Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe.
Modi is scheduled to visit China again in June for a summit of the eight-member Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
It is unclear at the moment how China and India will address their differences to forge greater investment and economic cooperation between two of the largest economies.
