India-China talks: Wang Yi urges respect for core interests in Delhi

Beijing,UPDATED: Jun 23, 2026 13:54 IST

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has said it is "imperative" for India and China to respect each other's "core interests" and take concrete steps to implement the "important consensus" reached by the leaders of the two countries. He made the remarks during a meeting with Security Advisor Ajit Doval in New Delhi on Monday.

The two sides discussed bilateral ties and progress in the normalisation process. In New Delhi, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the talks were "constructive and forward-looking".

According to China's state-run Xinhua news agency, Wang, who is in the Indian capital for the BRICS NSA conference, said India is an important neighbour of China and that bilateral relations have returned to the track of recovery and improvement. Wang, who is also a member of the Political Bureau of the ruling Communist Party of China and director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs, said the leaders of the two countries had agreed that China and India are partners instead of rivals. He said this had become the most important strategic consensus between the two sides and had provided an important impetus and strategic guarantee for the healthy and stable development of ties.

Wang said that, as the two economies with the largest populations, China and India should view bilateral relations from a long-term perspective and promote cooperation from a global perspective. He said both sides should take concrete actions to implement the important consensus reached by their leaders, promote their respective development and revitalisation through cooperation, and accelerate the modernisation process of the Global South.

"It is imperative to respect each other's core interests, properly handle sensitive issues, and place the China-India border issue in an appropriate position, so that it doesn't affect the overall situation of bilateral relations," Wang said. He also underlined the need to restore dialogue mechanisms and promote exchanges in areas such as trade, finance, law enforcement and media. Wang added that both sides should actively guide all sections of society to form a correct understanding and build a stronger public opinion and social foundation for better bilateral relations.

Doval and Wang are the Special Representatives on the India-China border issue. Jaiswal said Doval underlined that stable, predictable and constructive bilateral relations contribute to building trust and better understanding between the two sides. India and China have rolled out a series of measures over the past year to rebuild ties after a sharp downturn following the deadly Galwan Valley clashes in 2020 and the military face-off that continued for over four years. In August last year, Doval and Wang held a Special Representatives dialogue in New Delhi that produced several outcomes to maintain peace along the border.

With PTI Inputs

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