China talks peace, partnership, prosperity with India

By Aarti Tikoo Singh New Delhi/Beijing, March 7 : China on Sunday talked peace, partnership and prosperity with India, insisting that it is committed to settling the boundary dispute with New Delhi through dialogue and consultations.
After troops of both countries disengaged along the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh last month, New Delhi had warned Beijing over a week ago that it was not in the interest of either side to prolong the remaining boundary issues.
At his annual press meet, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Sunday said that the right and wrongs of what happened in the border area last year are clear, so are the stakes involved. “It again proves initiating confrontation will not solve the problem. Returning to peaceful negotiation is the right way forward,” he said.
China’s position, he said, is very clear. “We are committed to settling the boundary dispute through dialogue and consultations,” he said, adding that at the same time the Xi Jinping regime has resolved to safeguard its sovereign rights and interest.
The foreign minister said, “China and India are each other’s friends and partners and not threats and rivals. Both need to help each other succeed instead of undercutting each other, we should intensify cooperation instead of harboring suspicion over each other.” The boundary dispute, an issue left from history, is not the whole story of the China-India relationship, he said. “It is important that the two sides manage the dispute properly and at the same time expand and enhance cooperation to create enabling conditions for settlement of the issue.”