China's top diplomat calls for stable ties with India

China's top diplomat, Wang Yi, has urged his Indian counterpart to prioritize the stabilization of bilateral ties and avoid mistrust as the two neighboring countries make efforts to ease military tensions along their extensive border.

Wang and India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar held talks on the sidelines of ASEAN meetings in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta on Friday, with the Chinese side insisting on the need for mutual cooperation rather than maintain suspicion, Chinese foreign ministry said in an official statement on the exchange.

Wang further told Jaishankar that Beijing and New Delhi need to work in the same direction to mutually resolve border issues, according to the ministry’s readout of the meeting.

"The two sides should support each other and accomplish things together, rather than wear each other down or suspect each other," Wang emphasized as quoted in the official statement, adding that India and China should not allow specific issues define their overall relationship.

The two sides also agreed to hold the next round of military commander-level talks on border issues at an early date, according to the statement.

India and China share a 3,800-kilometer border, much of it poorly marked, and engaged in a brief but bloody war over it back in 1962.

The ties, however, improved after 1990s, following a series of border agreements. China now remains India’s second-largest trading partner.

Another setback between the two neighbors emerged in 2020, when 20 Indian troops and four Chinese soldiers were killed in hand-to-hand combat during a border clash, prompting military forces of both countries to fortify positions and deploy huge numbers of troops and equipment along their frontiers.

Several rounds of military and diplomatic talks held between the two nations have led to easing of tensions though New Delhi has described the situation on the border as fragile and dangerous.

This is while India has also intensified its scrutiny of Chinese businesses since 2020, banning more than 300 Chinese apps, including TikTok. It has also escalated its surveillance of investments by Chinese companies.

The development came amid recent reports that Washington intends to transform India into a major hub for maintenance and resupplying of US warships in the South Asia region as part of a military partnership pact aimed at countering China, as part of a deal reached during a summit meeting earlier this month between American and Indian presidents.

US military seeks to turn India into logistics hub in anti-China bid: Report

The US intends to transform India into a major hub for maintenance and resupplying of its warships in the South Asia region as part of a military partnership pact aimed at countering China, a report says.

“The US will provide India with support to develop infrastructure that will be used to resupply, repair and maintain [military] ships and aircraft,” major Japanese daily Nikkei reported.

The paper cited a major US-India military partnership mentioned in the joint statement issued late last month following a summit meeting in Washington between India’s visiting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden.

The US Navy, it said, will sign ship repair agreements with Indian shipyards.

"We'll have much more to follow in the near future, but the aim here is to make India a logistics hub for the United States and other partners in the Indo-Pacific region," US Defense Department Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder announced following the summit in late June.

Citing the White House, the paper said the US Navy has concluded a Master Ship Repair Agreement with the Larsen & Toubro shipyard near the Indian city of Chennai. 

The US Navy, it added, is close to finalizing separate deals with two other shipbuilders, based in Mumbai and Goa.

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