China's Xi, India's Modi agree to expand bilateral military communication
Chinese President Xi Jinping and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi have agreed on expanding communication between their militaries in efforts to maintain peace at the frontier, Indian foreign secretary said.
Beijing and New Delhi also agreed to further develop ties to boost regional stability, added Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale in a Saturday news briefing in the Chinese city of Wuhan on the sidelines of Modi’s two-day visit to China for informal talks with Xi.
The significant development came just months after a conflict between the two neighbors over a stretch of their Himalayan border raised new concerns about a potential war.
Gokhale also told reporters following the talks that both leaders understood that their nations possessed the maturity and wisdom to handle all their differences peacefully and through dialogue.
"On the issue of the India-China boundary question, the two leaders endorsed the work of the special representatives in their efforts to find a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable settlement," India’s top diplomat stated.
"And the two leaders also underscored that in the meantime it is important to maintain peace and tranquility in all areas of the India-China border region," he emphasized.
This is while China’s official media praised the tone of the exchange between leaders of the world’s two most populous nations.
“Two great countries ought to have great cooperation," said a front page commentary column in the Saturday edition of the Communist Party’s official People’s Daily.
"It is quite clear that strategic agreement between the two countries far exceeds the specific differences, and the need for cooperation far exceeds local friction," read the article.
"There is reason to believe that this Wuhan meeting will increase mutual trust, manage and control disputes, deepen cooperation and lead to a new phase in China-India relations," it added.
Modi also extended an invitation to Xi on Friday to visit India for a similar informal summit next year.
Modi is expected to return to China in June for the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a security bloc led by Beijing and Moscow.
Indian analysts point to a pragmatic reason for Modi to want better relations with China: he faces national elections next year, and he would be better off with stable ties with the world's second-largest economy.
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