Highlights
- Xi pointed out that China and India are important neighbors of each other
- Xi Jinping stands ready to work with Murmu to enhance political mutual trust
- The last such communication from Xi had with India was at the height of Covid second wave
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday congratulated his Indian counterpart Droupadi Murmu on assuming office, saying he stands ready to work with her to enhance political mutual trust, properly handle differences and push bilateral ties forward on the right track.
In his first communication to Indian leadership in April 2021, Xi pointed out that China and India are important neighbors of each other, and that a healthy and stable China-India relationship is in line with the fundamental interests of the two countries and their people, as well as conducive to peace, stability and development in the region and across the world.
In his congratulatory message, Xi said that he attaches great importance to China-India relations, and stands ready to work with Murmu to enhance political mutual trust, deepen practical cooperation, properly handle differences and push bilateral ties forward on the right track, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Murmu, India’s youngest president at 64 and the first to be born after Independence, took the oath of office on Monday. Chief Justice of India N V Ramana administered her oath at a ceremony held at Parliament's Central Hall. The last such communication from President Xi to the Indian leadership was on April 30, 2021, at the height of the COVID-19 second wave when he wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, offering support and China’s willingness to strengthen anti-pandemic cooperation with India.
Xi and Prime Minister Modi held two informal summits in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in 2018 followed by another at Mahabalipuram near Chennai in 2019 in a bid to improve the bilateral relations. The relations between India and China nosedived after the eastern Ladakh border standoff which erupted on May 5, 2020, following a violent clash in the Pangong lake areas.
Both sides gradually enhanced their deployment by rushing in tens of thousands of soldiers as well as heavy weaponry. As a result of a series of military and diplomatic talks, the two sides completed the disengagement process last year on the north and south banks of the Pangong lake and in the Gogra area.
India has been consistently maintaining that peace and tranquillity along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) were key to the overall development of the bilateral ties. On July 17, senior military officials of the two countries held the 16th round of talks but failed to make any breakthrough in resolving outstanding issues on the remaining friction points in eastern Ladakh. However, they agreed to maintain dialogue to arrive at a mutually acceptable resolution at the earliest.
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