External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Monday said that the border dispute with China was “not an insurmountable issue” and that both countries were committed to smoothening out “irritants” in the relationship.
“It is a fact that we have an undefined boundary and therefore differences in perception, something that appears from time to time to become an insurmountable problem. But in our hearts, we know that it is not an insurmountable problem but also that both of us are committed for eradication and removal of these irritants in our relationship,” Khurshid said at the inauguration of the India-China Media Forum.
Chinese Minister of State Council Information Office Cai Mingzhao said the two countries should focus more on the positive happenings between them. “Will we see ourselves as rivals and competitors or will we see ourselves in multi-dimensional roles with each other collaborating, cooperating, competing, assisting, sharing and more importantly, if I can add an important word, ‘caring’ for each other,” he said.
The Minister said language is “important to reach out to each other, clear cobwebs of the misunderstandings of the past, present and even of the future.” Khurshid said media is a pillar of strength for India and its independence is an important dimension for its democracy. The Minister urged journalists from both sides to look at a methodology which allows trans-national or national interests to “prevail over the desire to report aggressively and extensively.”