Chinese envoy for beginning a new chapter with India; Rajnath notes ”positivity” from Beijing

30 September, New Delhi

A month after resolution of the Doklam crisis, Chinese envoy to India Luo Zhaohui has said both the countries should open a new chapter in their relationship leaving behind the past.

”It is high time India and China turned the old page and start a new chapter,” the Chinese Ambassador said speaking at a function here on Friday night to mark the 68th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

”History could teach us a lot of things. Standing on their shoulders, we should do more today,” he said.

”We should dance together. We should make one plus one eleven,” he said as he recalled the message of reconciliation and cooperation sent out by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping during their meeting on the sidelines of BRICS Summit in Xianmen.

He pointed out that China was the largest trading partner of India, and said both the countries had made a lot of progress in bilateral relations, as well at the international and regional level.

Meanwhile, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who today celebrated Dussehra on the border with Jawans in Uttarakhand, has said ”There was deadlock in Doklam, but it was resolved through dialogue. China’s approach has been positive, and we have been positive too. The perceptional difference can be sorted out through mutual dialogue.”

The over two month-long stand off in Doklam on the trijunction of India, China and Bhutan, which came to an end on August 29, had begun after Indian troops objected to the Chinese troops building a road in the territory disputed with Bhutan, as the road would have given easy approach to the PLA to the chicken neck the narrow strip of land that links the north-eastern states with the rest of India.

However, despite Chinese provocations through war rhetoric, India kept its cool and the issues was finally resolved peacefully.