Poll Outcome Won't Hit Ties, Feels China

Chinese vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin on Monday expressed confidence that whoever came to power after Parliamentary polls in India would be committed to improving bilateral ties -- a remark that showed Beijing didn’t believe that the anti-China rhetoric used by politicians including the BJP’s Narendra Modi would be reflected in foreign policy.
Poll Outcome Won't Hit Ties, Feels China

Chinese vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin on Monday expressed confidence that whoever came to power after Parliamentary polls in India would be committed to improving bilateral ties -- a remark that showed Beijing didn’t believe that the anti-China rhetoric used by politicians including the BJP’s Narendra Modi would be reflected in foreign policy.

“We are confident that to promote China-India friendship is a shared consensus of all political parties in India,” said Liu in Beijing, ahead of co-chairing the sixth round of strategic dialogue with visiting Indian Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh.

“I wish to mention in particular that India is undergoing a very important election. Therefore you have chosen to come to China at this very special time to have this strategic dialogue with us. This shows the tremendous importance that the Indian government and you yourself attach to this bilateral relationship and we highly appreciate that,” he said.

“So I am confident that whichever party comes into power in India, it will stay committed to friendship and cooperation between the two countries,” Liu added.

The Chinese official’s remarks indicate that Beijing is not disturbed by Modi’s warning against its “expansionist attitude”, with other officials pointing out that the BJP prime ministerial was not an unknown quantity as he had visited China.

Earlier, at a rally in Arunachal Pradesh which is claimed by China, Modi had said: “No power on earth can take away even an inch from India… China should give up its expansionist attitude and adopt a development mindset. I swear by this land that I will not let this nation be destroyed. I will not let this nation be divided. I will not let this nation bow down.”

In her opening remarks at the meeting, Singh said the fact that the strategic dialogue had been held within a period less than a year “is symbolic of the fact that our relations are growing and our interactions are increasing”.

“As our Prime Minister articulated on several occasions, there is sufficient space in the world for both India and China to meet their developmental aspirations within our respective processes of economic and social development there is great scope for bilateral cooperation,” she said.

The senior Chinese official said the scope of the strategic dialogue had gone beyond purely bilateral issues to global concerns.

“China and India are two large countries and two biggest developing countries in the world. Therefore our bilateral relationship have already gone beyond the bilateral scope and naturally, besides bilateral cooperation we are also going to talk about regional and international issues,” he said.

According to a press release issued by the Indian embassy, the two sides held “intensive consultations” for five hours.

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