‘Chinese defence minister’s India visit will enhance ties’
Chinese defence minister Wei Fenghe’s ongoing “landmark” visit to India will strengthen bilateral military ties and enhance trust, China’s state media has said, adding it will help in implementing the Wuhan consensus reached between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping.
Defence minister and state councilor Wei met Modi in New Delhi on Tuesday soon after beginning his four-day visit.
Wei said he believed his visit would help implement the consensus reached between leaders of the two countries, deepen military and security exchanges and cooperation, and build mutual trust. “The two countries should jointly maintain peace and tranquillity in border area so as to contribute to a closer development partnership,” Wei was quoted by official news agency, Xinhua as saying.
“The visit marks the comprehensive recovery of ties between China and India after the Doklam standoff last year,” Qian Feng from the Beijing-based National Strategy Institute of Tsinghua University told the Global Times.“The establishment of a mutual military trust mechanism is likely to be an important topic at the talks,” Qian noted. “The two sides will expand cooperation and manage disputes so that the overall situation between the two countries will not be affected before the border issue is fully resolved,” Qian added.
Ma Jiali, a director at China Reform Forum, told China Daily that the positive development in Sino-Indian military and overall ties will continue, and theywill likely resume their seventh joint military exercises later this year.