Officials from India and China hold new round of consultations on bilateral ties

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Senior officials from the foreign ministries of India and China have held a new round of consultations in Beijing, affirming positive progress in bilateral ties after a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in August.

Sujit Ghosh, Joint Secretary of the East Asia Division of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), and Liu Jinsong, Director-General of the Department of Asian Affairs of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, held consultations on Thursday, a press release by the Chinese Foreign Ministry here said.

The two sides affirmed the recent positive progress in China-India relations and expressed their commitment to fully implementing the important common understandings reached between Modi and Xi during their meeting in Tianjin in August, it said.

In a press release, the MEA described the discussions as "constructive and forward looking".

"Both sides highlighted the importance of strategic guidance of the leaders of the two countries, and made a positive assessment of the progress in stabilising and rebuilding bilateral ties, prioritising people-centric engagements," it said.

It said the two sides took stock of the exchanges and activities planned for the coming year.

"The Indian side emphasised on the need for early resolution of outstanding issues pertaining to export control. Regional and global developments of mutual interest were also briefly touched upon," the MEA said.

Ghosh later called on Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong.

During their meeting, Sun said PM Modi and President Xi had a successful meeting in Tianjin on the sidelines of the SCO summit, providing guidance on elevating China-India relations to a new level.

He expressed hope that both sides will effectively deliver on the important common understandings reached between their leaders, embrace a broader vision, build mutual trust, make solid efforts, work steadily to advance cooperation, respect each other, properly manage differences, and promote the continuous development of China-India relations, the Chinese release said.

It quoted Ghosh as saying that India-China relations are very important.

India is willing to work together with China, under the strategic guidance of the leaders of both countries, to resume institutional dialogue, strengthen exchanges and cooperation, and consolidate the development momentum of India-China relations, he said, the release added.

Ghosh also met with the Director General (Asian Affairs) of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce and discussed bilateral trade and commercial issues.