As China prepares for a leadership transition after a decade, it has sought to reaffirm its close bilateral ties with New Delhi saying that India is an “important neighbour” and “an indispensable partner in international affairs”.
The Chinese embassy’s charge d’affaires Deng Xijun told mediapersons here on Tuesday, “It is China’s national policy to maintain and to further promote the strategic and cooperative partnership with India.”
The senior Chinese diplomat also noted, “Through our joint efforts, China-India relations have witnessed sound development in an all-round manner and acquired neo-strategic dimensions in recent years.”
Drawing attention to the meetings between the Chinese and Indian leaders, Mr Deng also mentioned the meeting that outgoing Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao had with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the sidelines of the on-going East Asia summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on Monday.
Describing as a “natural transition” the change in guard at the helm of the Communist Party of China (CPC), which has just concluded its 18th national congress, Mr Deng said the leadership change will not impact China-India ties.
“A new leadership has come. Our policy never changes. it’s very stable,” said Mr Deng. He further affirmed, “China will unswervingly follow the path of peaceful development and an independent foreign policy of peace. We will continue to promote friendship and partnership with all our neighbours and ensure that China’s development will bring more benefits to them.”
Stating that China and India are “the two big emerging powers in the world”, the Chinese diplomat added, “There are a lot of areas where we can cooperate and a lot of things (where) we can learn from each other.”