China willing to work with India for closer bilateral ties in 2023: Chinese enovy

Kolkata: A Chinese envoy in India has asserted of stability at the borders between the two nations. He also voiced China's willingness to "work with India" for "closer" bilateral ties in 2023 after trade between the two neighbours peaked last year. 

Chinese Consul General in Kolkata Zha Liyou said at a Chinese Lunar New Year celebration on Wednesday evening, "The situation on the India-China border is generally stable. The two sides have been maintaining communication through diplomatic and military channels and are committed to maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas."

He added, "The two countries are important neighbors to each other and to a large number of developing countries in the world. A sound and stable China-India relationship serves the fundamental interests of the two countries and to our people and is also conducive to the peace, stability and development of the region and to the world."

According to Mr Liyuo, "India and China have such a long history of sharing belief and knowledge between them. So a new era will see us coming closer. China and India should play a major role to augment global governance and Asian sentiments."

Looking back at 2022 he noted, "We find the world was not peaceful. The world was not in its best shape. A crisis brings changes and hope. In Chinese, crisis means an opportunity. Conflict and confrontations go against the trend and result in failure. Peaceful development and win-win cooperation are the common aspirations of people."

Mr Liyou then underlined, "We are willing to work with India to meet each other halfway in mutual trust, deepen practical cooperation, properly handle differences, push forward China-India relations on the right track, strengthen communication on major international and regional issues, deepen cooperation in areas of such as improving global governance, energy and food security and addressing climate change together."

He argued, "Over the past one year, our relationship, ie between China and India, has gradually returned to the track of stable development. The exchange of cooperation between us in the fields of economy, trade and people-to-people exchange and cultural exchange have been advancing. Last year bilateral trade between China and India reached a new record high at US $135.98 billion. Among this, India's buy from China was around US $118 billion. That is a big increase of 21.7%."

Mr Liyuo also found the theme of India's G20 presidency: One Earth, One Family, One Future' similar to his country's goal. "This actually coincides with China's concept: One World, One Family, One Community with Shared Future for Mankind."