“This way we can better tap into the potential of our bilateral relations and live up to our responsibilities” for the regional stability. In his response, Jaishankar said, “This is the first time that the restructured strategic dialogue is taking place”. “This shows that our relationship today has gone well beyond bilateral manifestations,” he said. Stating that the two countries are members of G20, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), BRICS and the East Asia Summit, he said this will “allow us to find more common ground on more issues”.
Later, Jaishankar along with China’s Executive Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui held the strategic dialogue. In his opening remarks at the dialogue, Jaishankar said, “We have truly transcended the bilateral dimension of our relations. What happens between India and China has both great global and regional significance. “Our assessment coming in is that our bilateral relations have really acquired a very steady momentum over many years. Our leadership-level meetings have been taking place regularly and our economic engagement is growing. We are seeing cooperation on many international issues and our border areas have maintained peace and tranquility,” he said.
“Overall the closer development partnership has been unfolding,” he said. Apparently referring to differences, Jaishankar said, “there are natural issues which neighbours have” and it is the responsibility of both the countries to address them. Zhang said “I expect that we discuss the full range of issues that are important to our countries”. Several top officials from both sides, including those in-charge of nuclear disarmament issues, were present at the talks indicating th at both sides will be discussing India’s entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) besides other issues.
The talks were being held in the backdrop of vocal differences between the two countries on a host of issues including India’s concern over the USD 46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Beijing’s reluctance to back India’s application to join the NSG and the UN ban on Azhar.
