China calls to heed concerns as India’s Jaishankar makes first visit in 5 years

Chinese Vice-President Han Zheng called for practical cooperation and mutual respect with India as he met the Indian foreign minister in Beijing on Monday.
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The talks with Subrahmanyam Jaishankar came against the backdrop of tensions over succession plans for the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader who has lived in exile in India since 1959.

Han said China and India should “steadily advance practical cooperation, respect each other’s concerns and promote the sustained, healthy and stable development of [bilateral] relations”, state news agency Xinhua reported.

Jaishankar, meanwhile, expressed confidence that the discussions during his visit would “maintain that positive trajectory”, a readout from his ministry said.

“The resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra is also widely appreciated in India. Continued normalisation of our ties can produce mutually beneficial outcomes,” the top Indian diplomat was quoted as saying.

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He was referring to the Indian pilgrimage to Mount Kailash and Lake Mansarovar in Tibet that have recently resumed after being suspended for five years over border tensions and the pandemic.