Ahead of Indian leader’s visit, China says huge potential for cooperation

BEIJING - Asian giants China and India have great potential for cooperation, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said yesterday, seeking to cast the neighbours’ difficult ties in a positive light ahead of a visit next week by India’s prime minister.

The two agreed this week to deescalate a more than two-monthold stand-off on their disputed border, just in time for Sunday’s kick-off of a summit of the BRICS grouping of nations, which also includes Brazil, Russia and South Africa.

It was normal for the two giant neighbours to have differences, Wang told a news briefing ahead of the summit in the southeastern city of Xiamen that India’s Narendra Modi is to attend.

“What’s important is that we put these problems in the appropriate place, and appropriately handle and control them in the spirit of mutual respect and based on the consensus of both countries’ leaders,” he said.

“There is huge potential for cooperation between China and India,” Wang added, without giving details.

The stand-off in the Himalayan region began when India sent troops to stop China building a road in the remote, uninhabited territory of Doklam, claimed by both China and Bhutan.

China has said its forces will continue to patrol in Doklam, known in Chinese as Donglang, and Wang added that he hoped India had learned a lesson from the incident.

– REUTERS.