Big fan of India: Chinese envoy to Dhaka

New Delhi, October 27Against the backdrop of terse exchanges between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and outgoing Chinese envoy to India Sun Weidong, the Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh has said he is a big fan of India.No rivalryChina never views India as a strategic competitor. Both nations can work together closely to solve economic and geopolitical issues. — Li Jiming, China's Ambassador to BangladeshChina, Russia defence chiefs hold talksChinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe held a telephone call with his Russian counterpart Sergei ShoiguBoth exchanged views on international and regional issues of mutual concern, an official saidChina has backed Russia in its war against Ukraine, accusing the US and NATO of provoking conflictLi Jiming, the top Chinese envoy in Bangladesh, said, "China never views India as a strategic rival or strategic competitor. I think India and China can work together closely to resolve economic and geopolitical issues." China does not have any strategic rivalry with India and does not want to see a heavily armed Bay of Bengal, he added. On Wednesday, Jaishankar had indirectly refuted the observations by Weidong a day earlier that both India-China should break out of the "geopolitics trap and find a new path that is different from the past". The EAM told Weidong that peace and tranquility in border areas were essential for normal ties between India and China even as the normalisation of bilateral ties was in the interest of both countries, of Asia and the world at large. The Chinese envoy in his farewell remarks a day earlier said both countries should seek common ground while reserving differences. "China and India are important neighbours to each other. It is only natural for both countries to have some differences. The key is how to handle the differences. We should be aware that the common interests of the two countries are greater than differences," he said.In effect, the Chinese envoy was suggesting that the two countries should develop ties in other areas while trying to sort out the border dispute.In a tweet, Jaishankar said he reiterated his proposal to the Chinese about "three mutuals" for sustainable ties between the two countries.In his last major address on China on October 18, he had said India was looking for bilateral ties based on "mutual respect, mutual sensitivity and mutual interest."

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