India and China must resolve friction along their border, pull back troops, and avoid "restrictive trade measures" to normalise their relationship, India's foreign minister told his Chinese counterpart in Beijing on Monday.
India's Subrahmanyam Jaishankar met Wang Yi during his first visit to China since 2020, when a deadly border clash led to a four-year military standoff and damaged ties until a thaw began in October.
"Good progress" in the past nine months toward normalising relations is due to resolving tensions along their border, Jaishankar told Wang.
The positive momentum in bilateral ties is "hard-won and should be cherished," Wang said, adding that the two countries should enhance political trust, properly handle differences, and expand exchanges and cooperation.
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“The two sides should trust each other rather than suspect each other, cooperate with each other rather than compete with each other,” Wang said, according to a readout from the Chinese foreign ministry.
India and China share a 3,800 km (2,400 miles) border that is poorly demarcated and has been disputed since the 1950s. The two countries fought a brief but brutal border war in 1962, and decades of talks have made limited progress.
Last month, Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh told his Chinese counterpart that both sides should work toward a permanent solution to the border dispute.
"It is now incumbent on us to address other aspects related to the border, including de-escalation," Jaishankar said, adding that avoiding restrictive trade measures and roadblocks is also critical to fostering mutually beneficial cooperation.
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Jaishankar’s remarks come against the backdrop of recent Chinese restrictions on the export of critical minerals such as rare earth magnets and high-tech manufacturing machinery.
India has the world’s fifth-largest rare earth reserves, but its domestic production remains underdeveloped.
“China is willing to strengthen communication and coordination with India to jointly safeguard the multilateral trading system and the stability of global industrial and supply chains,” Wang told Jaishankar.
Jaishankar, in China to attend the foreign ministers’ meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, also met Chinese Vice President Han Zheng earlier in the day, according to China’s official Xinhua news agency.
India and China should steadily advance practical cooperation and respect each other's concerns, Han told Jaishankar, Xinhua reported.
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