Latest news with #bordertalks
Khaleej Times
a day ago
- Business
- Khaleej Times
China, India to restart direct flights, resume tourism visa issuance, boost trade
China and India announced they would restart direct flights in a string of diplomatic breakthroughs, state media reported Wednesday, as Beijing's foreign minister wrapped up a visit before heading to Pakistan. Following Wang Yi's trip to India, Beijing and New Delhi also agreed to advance talks on their disputed border, resume tourism visa issuance and boost trade between the neighbouring countries. In talks on the border issue with Indian national security adviser Ajit Doval, the two sides agreed to "explore the possibility of advancing boundary demarcation negotiations" and vowed to reopen three border trade markets, according to a Xinhua report Wednesday. Relations between the world's two most populous countries soured after a deadly border clash in 2020. But a thaw began last October when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping for the first time in five years at a summit in Russia. Modi will travel to China later in August — his first visit since 2018. Wang is now due in Pakistan, India's arch-rival and one of China's closest partners in the region. "Both India and Pakistan are China's important neighbours. We are willing to enhance friendly cooperation with both countries, and hope that differences between these two countries can be handled properly," foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said at a regular press conference Tuesday. She described China and Pakistan as "ironclad friends and all-weather strategic partners". China has poured tens of billions of dollars into Pakistan to fund massive transport, energy and infrastructure projects — part of Beijing's transnational Belt and Road scheme. Islamabad used Chinese-made military hardware, including jets, against India during a four-day conflict in May that killed more than 70 people. The conflict was sparked by an attack on tourists by gunmen in Indian-administered Kashmir that New Delhi accused Islamabad of backing -- a charge it denies. Kashmir is claimed in full by both India and Pakistan, which have fought several wars over the Muslim-majority region since their 1947 independence from British rule. Wang said that China supported Islamabad in defending "national sovereignty and territorial integrity", in talks with Pakistan's Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar in May, days after Islamabad and New Delhi agreed a ceasefire. Wang is due in Pakistan until Friday and will meet with Dar for the sixth round of China-Pakistan Foreign Ministers' Strategic Dialogue, China's foreign ministry said Tuesday.
CNA
2 days ago
- Business
- CNA
China says it is looking to work with India to maintain border peace
India's prime minister and China's top diplomat are set to hold talks, as both sides work towards improving relations after years of tensions along their disputed Himalayan border. Wang Yi held talks with Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval earlier in the day. The two officials praised the strengthened ties between the countries and agreed to hold their next border meeting in China next year. Discussions had been expected to focus scaling back military presence along the border and the resumption of trade, in light of Washington's tariffs. Rebecca Bundhun and Tan Yew Guan report.
Reuters
2 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
China promises to address India's rare earths needs as border talks begin, Indian source says
NEW DELHI, Aug 19 (Reuters) - There is an upward trend in India-China relations and Beijing has promised to address New Delhi's needs on rare earths, a top Indian official and a source said on Tuesday, as the neighbours rebuild ties that were damaged by a 2020 border clash. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is visiting India for the 24th round of border talks with Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and is also due to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, days before Modi travels to China for the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. "There has been an upward trend. Borders have been quiet. There has been peace and tranquillity," Doval told Wang as he opened the talks. "Our bilateral engagements have been more substantial." "The new environment that has been created has helped us in moving ahead in the various areas that we are working on," he said. Wang said the setbacks the two countries experienced over the past few years were not in the interests of the people of the two countries, according to a translation of his remarks by Indian news agency ANI. Earlier on Tuesday, an Indian source said that China had promised to address three key Indian concerns. Wang, the source said, had assured Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar that Beijing is addressing India's need for fertilisers, rare earths and tunnel boring machines. The Indian foreign and mines ministries did not respond immediately to Reuters requests for comment. China's commerce ministry also did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It was not immediately clear whether China had agreed to approve export licenses faster or grant blanket exemptions for India. China has previously committed to speeding up export licenses for Europe and the U.S. without actually dismantling the control regime. China's exports of rare earths and related magnets jumped in June after these agreements and as the commerce ministry worked through a huge backlog of applications. However, rare earth magnet exports to India were still down 58% compared to January levels, according to Chinese customs data. June is the last month for which country-level data is available. India has the world's fifth-largest rare earth reserves, at 6.9 million metric tons, but there is no domestic magnet production. India relies on imported magnets, mainly from China.
