India should work with China amid recent positive signals: experts

Recently, a series of positive signals have been released in China- India relations including the “constructive and forward- looking” 16th Corps Commander- level talks held earlier this month.

However, Indian media outlets have been hyping that India is preparing to deploy a new batch of antiaircraft missiles in the northern border region with China, claiming the move is aimed at countering pressure from China.

As the border issue has been left hanging in the air, Indian media have always made such wrong claims amid important contacts between the two sides, or deliberately inflated tensions, which is not surprising, experts said. They urged New Delhi to work with Beijing in a more pragmatic way to solve bilateral difficulties.

On Thursday, Senior Colonel Wu Qian, spokesperson for China’s Ministry of National Defense, said that during the 16th round of Corps Commander- level talks between India and China, the two sides conducted discussions in a constructive and forward- looking manner and reached four points of consensus.

First, the two countries agreed to adhere to political guidance and earnestly implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of China and India; second, they agreed to maintain the momentum of recovery in bilateral relations with the overall situation kept in mind; third, they agreed to effectively manage differences and safeguard security and stability in border areas until the issue is resolved; and fourth, they agreed to maintain communication and dialogue and reach a solution acceptable to both sides as soon as possible, according to Wu.

Also Indian newspaper The Hindu reported that External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar is likely to have a second meeting this month with Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization foreign ministers’ meeting in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Despite the good atmosphere during official exchanges, Indian media have recently sensationalized the “frequent activity of Chinese fighter jets” and India’s potential deployment of a new batch of S- 400 anti- aircraft missiles along the China- India border.

Lan Jianxue, director of the Department for Asia- Pacific Studies at the China Institute of International Studies, said that the relationship between the two countries should never be mired in a dangerous state of “strategic drift,” but should control differences, focus on the consensus and common interests.