India and China urged to join hands and achieve common development

China would like to work with India to help each other succeed on the way to modernization, achieve common development and revitalization, and join hands to build a community with a shared future for mankind, Beijing's envoy to New Delhi said on Sept 19.

The important neighbors, as major largest developing countries and emerging economies, are at a critical stage of national development and rejuvenation. While China has put forward the goal to build China into a great modern socialist country in all respects through the middle of this century, India also has the vision of "Viksit Bharat 2047".

"The Global South countries are watching how China and India strengthen coordination and cooperation, and lead the development and revitalization of the Global South," Ambassador Xu Feihong told a forum in New Delhi on "Deepening Reform to Advance Modernization: How China and India can Contribute to Each Other's Success". The Center for Global India Insights and the Institute of Social Sciences were forum co-organizers.

Firstly, "we should adhere to the guidance of the important consensuses reached by the leaders of the two countries and jointly seek ways for neighboring major countries to live in peace," Xu said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have reached many important consensuses, including the recognition that the two nations are development partners, and not a threat to each other but opportunities for each other's development, Xu said at the event organized by the Chinese embassy.

This not only charts the "direction for the development of bilateral relations but also provides important guidelines for the two countries to promote modernization", Xu said.

"We need to correctly view each other's development and strategic intentions, firmly steer bilateral relations in the right direction, and mutually accommodate each other's core interests and major concerns. We need to properly handle differences through dialogue, steadily promote exchanges and cooperation at all levels in various fields, prevent our cooperation from being disrupted by a single incident, and jointly usher in a new chapter in China-India relations," Xu stressed.

Secondly, the two countries should focus on the well-being of the two peoples and share the opportunities of modernization and development, he noted.

India is implementing initiatives such as "Atmanirbhar Bharat" (Self-Reliant India) and "Make in India", and that the nation is aiming to becoming a global manufacturing hub. Beijing is advancing Chinese modernization on all fronts and promoting high-standard opening-up, which is expected to provide new cooperation opportunities to all countries, including India.

China is willing to strengthen exchanges of modernization experience with India, to better benefit the two countries and two peoples, he said, noting that the economic and trade structures of the two countries are highly complementary.

"We are willing to enhance experience-sharing on reforms with the Indian side, synergize our development strategies, learn from each other's strengths and make progress together," the envoy said.

Only China and India can understand the scale of the efforts needed to promote reform in a country with a population of 1.4 billion, Xu said.

Congratulating India for its achievements through reforms, Xu highlighted that under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, the Indian government put forward the policy of 'Reform, Perform and Transform'. India's economy is growing well and people's living standards are improving continuously, he said.

China is willing to advance exchanges and cooperation with India in science and technology, education, culture and tourism, he said.

Beijing welcomes more Indian enterprises to invest in China, and more Indian commodities to enter the Chinese market, the envoy said. Meanwhile, "it is hoped that the Indian side could provide a sound business environment for the Chinese enterprises in India", Xu said.

Moreover, China and India "should uphold the interests of developing countries and jointly advance the modernization in the Global South," Xu said. 

Modernization is an inalienable right of developing countries and both China and India are important members of the Global South and backbones in safeguarding their interests.

"We should promote the political settlement of international and regional hotspot issues, bring development back to the center of the international agenda, and enhance inter-civilization communication and dialogue. We should safeguard the common interests of developing countries, and join hands to take the lead in building a community with a shared future for mankind," Xu said.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar twice in the past few months, and Wang also met with Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval earlier this month.

"They had in-depth communication and reached an important consensus on the improvement of bilateral relations," Xu said.

China is India's largest trading partner, with bilateral trade reaching $136.2 billion last year. Chinese companies in India have created employment opportunities for Indian people and made positive contributions to India's economic development, the envoy highlighted.

Since last year, the Chinese embassy and consulates-general in India have issued more than 400,000 visas to Indians, facilitating people from all walks of life in India to visit China.

The foundation of China-India people-to-people friendship is strong, Xu said.

In another development, Indian Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu revealed last week that talks are underway to restore direct passenger flights between India and China, following a recent meeting with Song Zhiyong, administrator of the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

"I had a courtesy meeting with the Chinese delegation led by Song Zhiyong. We exchanged views on enhancing civil aviation cooperation, specifically on promoting the early resumption of scheduled passenger flights," Kinjarapu posted on X, social media formerly known as Twitter, on Sept 12 after the 2nd Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Civil Aviation, held in New Delhi.

The writer is a freelance journalist for China Daily. Xu Weiwei in Hong Kong contributed to this reporting.