As neighbors, it is natural for China and India to have some differences, but the focus should be on finding common ground for development while resolving outstanding issues through dialogue, outgoing Chinese Ambassador Sun Weidong said on Tuesday. His comments came at the end of his little more than three years in office, when relations between India and China came under severe strain following the Galwan Valley clashes on June 15, 2020, which marked the most serious military conflict between the two nuclear-armed nations. neighbors for several decades.
“China and India are each other’s important neighbors. It is natural that China and India have some differences. The key is how to deal with differences,” Sun said in his parting remarks. “We should be aware that the common interests of both countries are greater than the differences. In the meantime, both sides should try to manage and resolve differences and seek the right solution through dialogue and consultation, instead of defining China-India relations by differences,” he said.
He also referred to Rabindranath Tagore. “The famous Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore said that we Easterners can borrow neither the mind of the West nor the temperament of the West. We need to discover our own birthright. I fully agree with him.” Sun said the two countries must respect each other’s political systems and development paths and adhere to the principle of non-interference in each other’s internal affairs and avoid “misunderstanding and misjudgment”.
“If the Western theory of geopolitics is applied to the relationship between China and India, then major neighboring countries like us will inevitably see each other as threats and rivals. As a result, competition and confrontation will be the main mode of interaction, and a zero-sum game will be the inevitable outcome,” he said. “But the fact is that geographical proximity is an objective existence. It should be an opportunity for us to interact and cooperate more, use our potential, learn from each other and complement each other,” the ambassador said.
The ambassador mentioned three specific dimensions of Sino-Indian ties with an emphasis on strengthening mutually beneficial cooperation between the two sides. “We should improve communication and cooperation. China and India have established dialogue mechanisms at various levels and departments. We should make full use of all communication channels, deepen mutual understanding to avoid misunderstanding and misjudgment,” he said.
Read Now :Rs 254 crore has been earned through the disposal of scrap in Special Swachhta 2.0 campaign
