India’s Stance on Taiwan Remains Unchanged: Official Sources

New Delhi: In a significant development highlighting the rapidly-improving Sino-Indian ties, Indian government sources on Tuesday said Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi had “assured” external affairs minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar during the bilateral talks on Monday evening that China was “addressing India’s needs of rare earths, fertilizers and tunnel boring machines”.

Meanwhile, New Delhi issued a statement on Tuesday evening stating that Jaishankar at the meeting had also “underlined India's concerns with regard to the mega dam construction being undertaken by China in the lower reaches of the Yarlung Tsangpo (Brahmaputra river)”. It said “the need for utmost transparency in this regard was strongly underlined” by the EAM to his Chinese counterpart.

Both sides also “agreed to jointly maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas through friendly consultations”. They also "agreed to explore and resume various official bilateral dialogue mechanisms and exchanges to enhance cooperation and address each other’s concerns and properly manage differences".

Mentioning the issue of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in the backdrop of Operation Sindoor launched by India in May, New Delhi also said on Tuesday evening that “the Indian side strongly raised the issue of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, including cross-border terrorism”. New Delhi said “Minister Wang Yi concurred that countering terrorism should be given the highest priority”. Wang is scheduled to visit Islamabad after New Delhi. China has so far not condemned Pakistan-sponsored terrorism against India.

In an obvious reference to steep American tariffs on India and other nations, China on Tuesday said that Wang had told the EAM that “in today's world, unilateral bullying practices are rampant, and free trade and the international order face severe challenges”. It may be noted that after years of bilateral military tensions, the two Asian giants have been growing closer in the face of the belligerent trade policy of the Trump Administration in Washington.

In an outcome document, “both sides agreed to resume direct flight connectivity between Chinese mainland and India at the earliest and finalize an updated Air Services Agreement. Both sides also agreed on the facilitation of visas to tourists, businesses, media and other visitors in both directions”.

Both sides also “agreed to continue and further expand the scale” of the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage to Tibet next year. Both sides “agreed to facilitate trade and investment flows between the two countries through concrete measures” and also “agreed to uphold multilateralism, enhance communication on major international and regional issues, maintain a rules-based multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core, and promote a multi-polar world that safeguards the interest of developing countries”.

In a readout on Tuesday, Beijing said that during his talks with Mr. Jaishankar earlier on Monday, Mr. Wang had also stated that “China-India relations are showing a positive trend towards returning to the main course” and that “both sides should earnestly draw lessons from the past 75 years”. According to Beijing, Wang said the two nations need to “view each other as partners and opportunities rather than rivals or threats”. Mr. Wang also said during the talks that “China and India should remain confident, move in the same direction, avoid disruptions, expand cooperation, and consolidate the improvement momentum of bilateral relations.”