Mukherjee’s China visit: Political trust holds key to major power ties

Political trust holds the key to harmonious major power relations between the two Asian giants. This was the overarching message of India’s President Pranab Mukherjee and Chinese President Xi Jinping during the former’s recently concluded visit to Beijing and Guangzhou. The two sides should appropriately address our differences,” President Xi Jinping told Mr Mukherjee during their meeting on May 26.

With the intent to bolster the strategic partnership between the two Asian giants, the Chinese leader said that India and China should appropriately address their differences and consolidate political trust by maintaining strategic communications between the top leaders.

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During the meeting with Mr Mukherjee, China’s Premier Li Keqiang said that the two countries’ development offered opportunities for each other. There was also a suggestion by Mr Li that the two sides align China’s ‘Made in China 2025’ campaign and ‘Internet Plus’ initiative with India’s ‘Make in India’ and ‘Digital India’ campaigns. “The cooperation and development of China and India will not only benefit one-third of the global population, but also help global economic recovery and growth,” Mr Li said.

Mr Mukherjee’s four-day visit from May 24-27 to China ended with a meeting with the influential State Councillor Yang Jiechi. Mr Yang is also China’s Special Representative for boundary talks with India. Briefing media on the Mukherjee-Xi talks, Director General of Asia department of the foreign ministry Xiao Qian said the two leaders agreed to work to resolve differences by every effort but at the same time decided to be realistic. “It means they will manage well, the issues that cannot be addressed in a very short time so that these disagreements will not stand in the way of our development and cooperation,” Mr Xiao said.

“The two leaders also agreed to further advance the boundary negotiations under the framework of special representatives so that the tranquillity and peace of the boundary region will be maintained,” Mr Xiao added.

India and China also discussed potential cooperation in the areas of railways, industrial park, smart city, new energy, environmental protection, information technology, human resources, industrial capacity, investment, tourism and services.

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