PM Modi with President Xi in Wuhan
The Chinese media has hailed the "heart-to-heart" communication between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping during their two-day informal summit in Wuhan.
A leading Chinese newspaper pointed out that the informal summit reflected their deepened mutual history and charted the course of long-term bilateral development.
In an opinion piece, The China Daily said, "The beauty of the informal summit between Xi and Modi is that it comes with no baggage, only expectations. It is free of the usual diplomatic frills, somewhat beyond the global media limelight.”
"As expected, the 'heart-to-heart' communication between the two leaders reflected their deepened mutual chemistry. Which, in turn, will be conducive to improving mutual trust between the neighbours and charting the course of long-term bilateral development," it added.
Pointing out the fact that mutual suspicion was keeping the two countries from deepening cooperation and working together on regional and international issues, the newspaper said that the border incident last summer was just one example of what mutual suspicion could lead to, reminding both sides of the disruptive potential of distrust.
“Yet neither Beijing nor New Delhi calls the other an enemy, which means both expect bilateral ties to improve," the opinion piece said.
Calling China and India "natural partners", the daily said that "both realize they carry the hopes of the other developing countries to improve international relations, in order to make the world order more equitable".
"The Xi-Modi meetings reflect the two neighbours' common aspiration to not only stabilize their troubled relationship but also caution disruptive powers it is difficult to drive a wedge between them," it said.
The state-run Global Times said that the informal summit ushered in a new chapter in the Sino-Indian relations.
"Conflicts between China and India have kept accumulating, which exposed the fragility of Sino-Indian relations and prompted both sides to recognize that confrontation between China and India does not fit their interests. Disputes must be controlled,” it said.
China's People's Daily, on the other hand, quoted Xi as saying that "the consensus reached by the two sides provided positive signals of China-India friendship and reflected the strong will of two big emerging economies to enhance mutually beneficial cooperation".
