China's Ambassador to India Sun Weidong wrote in the July issue of the China-India Review published by the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi that: "In any relationship, there are ups and downs. The recent border issue and an unfortunate incident between China and India should not detract from the forward-looking vision of the bilateral partnership charted by our two leaders, President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. As our frontline troops disengage and the border situation de-escalates, it’s important to underline basic principles that should guide the development of China-India relations. First, China and India should be partners rather than rivals. Since the 1990s, China and India have reached an important consensus that the two countries pose no threat to each other. During the Wuhan Informal Summit in 2018, President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi once again stressed that the two countries provide each other with development opportunities instead of posing threats. This fundamental principle should guide the course of China-India relations in the future. Second, China and India need peace rather than confrontation. We should take a long range view and not allow our differences to become disputes. China and India need to find a fair and reasonable solution to the boundary question which is mutually acceptable. Pending an ultimate settlement, we should renew our pledge to work together to maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas. In this regard, the understanding reached between the two Special Representatives on July 5 should be followed conscientiously. Third, China and India, the two largest developing countries and emerging economies, need to pursue win-win cooperation instead of zero-sum game. In the face of Covid-19 virus, we should strengthen cooperation on curbing the epidemic and jointly overcome difficulties. Some people have been trumpeting the so called “decoupling” of China-India economic and trade relations which is erroneous thinking. The business community and people of India are the beneficiaries of China-India economic and trade cooperation. Any self-protection, non-tariff barriers and restrictive measures against China are unfair to everyone concerned. In this regard, we should focus on implementing the high-level economic and trade dialogue mechanism, which was agreed between the two leaders during their second informal summit in Chennai in October last year. Fourth, China and India need to build trust rather than suspicion. We need to respect and accommodate mutual core interests and major concerns and adhere to the principle of non-interference in each other’s internal affairs. Fifth, China-India relations should move forward rather than backward. This year marks the 70th anniversary of China-India diplomatic ties. With wisdom and painstaking efforts, we should cherish what we have achieved so far. As a Chinese saying goes, we have no fear of the clouds that may block our sights as we are already at the top of the height. We should take a broader and far-sighted view, work together to expand the positive dimension of cooperation, narrow down negative factors, and bring the bilateral relations back on the right track for a sound and steady development. This will be our shared effort in days to come".
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