PRESS RELEASE
Modi Comments at St. Petersburg on India-China Relations
June 6, 2017 (EIRNS)—Speaking at a panel discussion at the recently-concluded St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in the current inter-connected and inter-dependent world, countries—meaning China and India—may have some disputes and some areas of collaboration. The Indian Express reported his remarks on June 3.
Modi was asked whether India’s opposition to China’s One Belt, One Road project reflects deep discord in their relationship. Sharing the stage with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the leaders of Austria and Moldova, the Indian Prime Minister said: "It is true that we have a border dispute with China. But in the last 40 years, not a single bullet has been fired because of border dispute."
Modi’s statement on the ability of both India and China, the two most populous countries in the world, to keep things in the right perspective, was welcomed in Beijing.
"We have noted the positive remark made by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the China-India [situation]. We welcome that," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying observed during her regular media briefing on June 5, The Hindu reported. "The two major countries China and India maintaining sound and steady bilateral relationship is of great significance," she observed.
The Hindu also reported June 5 that China’s Assistant Foreign Minister Li Huilai had welcomed the multiple meetings between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Modi, and said that healthy relations between China and India would contribute to Asian as well as world peace and stability.
