China’s concluding representative to India, Sun Weidong, in his departure speech, emphasised the importance of managing and resolving disagreements between China and India as well as upholding the principle of non-interference in one another’s internal affairs.
After the Ladakh border clash in 2020, which has remained the main point of contention between the two sides, Sun, who took office in July 2019, is retiring at a time when the two sides are still managing their relations. In his farewell statements, which were uploaded on the Chinese embassy’s website, Sun stated that it is only natural for important neighbours like China and India to have some disagreements, but the point is how to handle the disagreements.
“We should be aware that the common interests of the two countries are greater than differences,” the envoy said.
“…the two sides should strive to manage and resolve differences, and look for a proper solution through dialogue and consultation, instead of defining China-India relations by differences. The two countries need to respect each other’s political systems and development paths, and uphold the principle of non-interference in each other’s internal affairs,” he said.
In elaborating on the points of agreement between China and India, the envoy noted that both nations are old oriental civilizations that have lived next to one another for thousands of years.
“As the only two countries with over one billion people in the world, China and India are both in a critical period of national development and rejuvenation. The daunting tasks in our development endeavours of our two countries are unparalleled,” he said.
The Chinese envoy advised both China and India to escape the “geopolitics trap” and take a different course than in the past.
“There is enough room in the world for China and India to develop together, and two countries and peoples should have enough wisdom to find a way to live in peace and achieve win-win cooperation between the two big neighbouring and emerging countries,” Sun said.
Recalling Chinese President Xi Jinping’s 2019 India visit, the outgoing Chinese envoy said,” “Over the past three years, I have had the honour of receiving President Xi Jinping in Chennai for the second informal meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”
The situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), in the India-China border areas, has been the subject of numerous diplomatic and military level meetings between India and China since April 2020.
India has emphasised time and time again that the border situation must be stable for India-China ties to be normal, and that if China disturbs the peace and tranquilly in border regions, it will worsen the situation.
“We have maintained our position that if China disturbs the peace and tranquillity in border areas, it will impact our relations. Our relationship is not normal, it cannot be normal as the border situation is not normal,” External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said at a Bengaluru event in August.