Sputnik News
March 1, 2017
A spokesperson for the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said some common ground was found while there was work to be done on others.
New Delhi (Sputnik) – India said on Wednesday that its first Strategic Dialogue with China was positive and constructive in reaction to a Chinese news report which questioned the efficacy of such a dialogue between the two countries.
Our assessment is that the recent meeting was positive and constructive. We both agreed that at the time when the global situation is in flux, a more stable, substantive and forward-looking India-China relationship was good for the international system,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Gopal Bagley said in response to the recent article in leading Chinese daily Global Times.
The first Strategic Dialogue between India and China was held in Beijing last week which was co-chaired by Indian Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar and Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui.
“India and China had open and useful exchanges on Afghanistan, UN, counter-terrorism and nuclear issues. While in some cases, we found common ground, in others, it was felt that dialogue should continue further,” Bagley said.
Both countries articulated their respective concerns and that they remain committed to working together in this regard.
“We found the Strategic Dialogue in its restructured form to be a productive exercise that addressed the full complexity of India-China relations. It is important that we take a balanced and objective view of what is clearly one of the key relationships in international politics,” Bagley said.
