China says it's pleased with strategic talks with India

BEIJING: China said on Thursday that the strategic dialogue with India, which took place on Wednesday, proved to be hugely successful resulting in "extensive agreements". The upgraded strategic dialogue involved two teams of officials with the Indian delegation led by foreign secretary S Jaishankar and China's executive vice foreign minister Zhang Yesui leading a group of Chinese officials.

"The two sides had an in-depth exchange and comprehensive exchange of views and reached extensive agreements," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at the ministry's regular briefing today. Officials on both sides "reached extensive consensus" while accepting the fact that "China and India have extensive converging interests and huge potential for cooperation," he said.

Jaishankar told Indian journalists on Wednesday that the strategic dialogue covered a wide range of issues, and resulted in better understanding of each other's perceptions on world affairs. But India was still strying to persuade China to change its stand on some sensitive issues while Beijingstruck to its opposition on censuring Pakistan based terrorist, Masood Azhar at the sanctions committee of the United Nations Security Council, and allowing India to become a member of the Nuclear Suppliers' Group.

At Thursday's briefing, Shuang also said that "the dialogue reached the goals as expected, and is of positive significance for bilateral relations". The governments of the two countries charted out a programme for improving relationship in different areas in 2017 and advance "practical cooperation, strengthen coordination and cooperation on regional and international issues"

The sound and steady development of India-China relations is in the fundamental interest of both countries and their peoples", he said. "The overall impression is this dialogue was held in a friendly atmosphere." he added.

Government departments in India and China will continue discussing several topics which came up during the strategic dialogue. They included issues like anti-terrorism, India's desire to join the NSG and Afghanistan's reconstruciton and development.