Beijing: China on Friday said it will expand cooperation with India to combat terrorism at the UN and other international for a, a day after President Pranab Mukherjee raised the issue of Beijing blocking New Delhi's move to get Pakistan-based JeM chief Masood Azhar blacklisted by the UN.
Describing Mukherjee's four-day state visit as "very successful and fruitful", Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said, the two sides have "agreed to carry forward our fine traditions, deepen practical cooperation and elevate bilateral relations."
"The two sides will expand bilateral cooperation in counter-terrorism. Terrorism is our common enemy. We will continue to enhance our counter-terrorism efforts under the UN, the BRICS and other frameworks to jointly maintain regional peace and stability," Hua said when asked about the outcome of Mukherjee's visit and whether China supports India's move in the UN to ban JeM chief Azhar.
During his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday, Mukherjee sought China's cooperation in international fora like the UN in the fight against terrorism stating that there was "no good or bad terrorists".
"As for specific outcomes, the two sides agreed to maintain high-level exchanges to better top level design and put in place improved mechanisms," Hua said.
Hua also said both sides will "properly manage and control our disputes, so that these disputes will not stand in the way of our practical cooperation".
"We will continue to make full use of the special representatives meeting on border question to maintain border peace and tranquility," she said.
India and China held 19th round of Special Representatives talks last month to resolve the disputes over 3488-km long Line of Actual Control (LAC).
China claims Arunachal Pradesh as Southern Tibet and India asserts that the dispute covered Aksai Chin area which was occupied by China during 1962 war.
Hua said China and India will support each other on regional and international occasions by joining their voices together on the international stage.
She spoke of more "balanced" bilateral trade as India has expressed serious concerns over USD 48 billion deficit in about USD 70 billion annual trade in China's favour.
India is seeking big ticket investments from China in India to generate more trade to offset the trade deficit.
"In practical cooperation we will enhance our cooperation in industrial zones, construction and build more sister cities. The two sides will also enhance cooperation in investment, tourism and more. We will try to move forward our two way trade in more balanced way through cooperation," she said.
Earlier, state-run Xinhua news agency quoted Xi as saying in his meeting with Mukherjee that "the two sides should appropriately address our differences" and consolidate political trust by maintaining strategic communications between the top leaders.
Describing Mukherjee as a "seasoned statesman" and "an old friend of China", Xi pledged to boost the strategic and cooperative partnership with India and proposed that the two sides consolidate political trust by maintaining strategic communication between state leaders and making use of various bilateral dialogue mechanisms.
In his meeting with Mukherjee, Premier Li Keqiang suggested 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, Xinhua said.
Mukherjee's four-day visit to China ended today with a meeting with State Councillor Yang Jiechi, who is also China's Special Representative for boundary talks with India.
Briefing media on 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, 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," Xiao said yesterday and cited boundary dispute as an example.
Xi also proposed to tap the potential for practical cooperation between India and China on railways, industrial park, smart city, new energy, environmental protection, information technology, human resources, industrial capacity, investment, tourism and services.
The Chinese president looked forward to closer cultural and people-to-people exchanges as well as law-enforcement and security cooperation between the two countries.
He called for efforts to join their development strategies, advance the construction of the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar economic corridor, a component of China?s mega Silk Road initiative in which India is taking part.
He also said India which has joined the China proposed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) should make it a professional and efficient financing platform and conclude the negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership at an early date.
Commenting on Mukherjee's visit, Sun Shihai, director of the Chinese Association for South Asian Studies, said the Indian President's trip follows a visit to India by Xi in 2014 and seeks to convey the message that the two countries are ready to maintain the tempo of high-level interactions.
Sun said that while China is concerned with improving ties between India and other countries, including the US and Japan, Mukherjee's visit shows India's efforts to strike a balance in its relations with these countries.
Fu Xiaoqiang, a scholar on South Asian studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said Mukherjee has a very good understanding of China.
He has visited China a number of times in different capacities. He has also met and interacted with top Chinese leaders, including Xi and Premier Li, during their visits to India, he told state-run China Daily.
"Given that Washington is drawing New Delhi to its side on security, the visit of Mukherjee will help to advance bilateral cooperation in all fields and eliminate disagreements," Fu said.
