Lok Sabha election results 2019: After Xi Jinping’s message, China again praises India on ‘smooth’ election
Chinese president Xi Jinping had congratulated Modi on his win and then congratulated India for the second time in 24 hours on the “smooth” completion of the Lok Sabha election.
China on Friday congratulated India for the second time in 24 hours on the “smooth” completion of the Lok Sabha election and again commended Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his victory.
On Thursday, Chinese president Xi Jinping had congratulated Modi on his win. Xi, in a letter addressed to the Indian leader, had conveyed his “heartfelt congratulations” to Modi on the victory.
“The 17th LS election was concluded smoothly and the NDA led by PM Modi won the majority. China congratulates on that and President Xi Jinping has sent a congratulatory message to Prime Minister Modi,” foreign ministry spokesperson Lu Kang added on Friday.
“China and India are important neighbours to each other. We are major developing countries and emerging markets,” he said at the regular ministry briefing.
The spokesperson said last year’s Wuhan summit between President Xi and PM Modi “directed the future for our bilateral relations and opening up a new prospect”.
“Now one year later, progress has been made in our bilateral relations and cooperation. China attaches high importance to our bilateral relations and likes to work with India to deepen our political mutual trust and mutually beneficial cooperation for more progress and closer partnership,” he said.
Xi and Modi are expected to meet when the Chinese leader is scheduled to visit India in the second half of 2019 for the second informal summit.
The Chinese foreign ministry also said Beijing had noticed the congratulatory message from Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan to Modi on his win and Modi’s response to Khan’s tweet.
“China has noted the interaction between the two leaders and we welcome that. Both the two countries are important countries in south Asia and harmony between them serves the fundamental interests of both sides and it is the common aspiration of the international community,” Lu said.
“We hope that two sides can continue to show good will, meet each other halfway, resolve differences through dialogue, improve their relations and jointly uphold regional peace and security,” Lu added.
Click to read more on Lok Sabha elections 2019
V-P Wang Qishan to visit Pakistan
Lu also announced that vice-president Wang Qishan will be visiting Pakistan next week.
“At the invitation of the Pakistani PM Imran Khan, Dutch PM Mark Rutt and the German Federal Government, V-P Wang Qishan will pay visits to Pakistan, the Netherlands and Germany from May 26 to June 2,” Lu said.
“At the invitation of the PM Imran Khan, V-P Wang will visit Pakistan and he will be meeting with President Alvi and have talks with PM Imran Khan and exchange views on deepening the bilateral relations and international and regional issues of mutual interest,” Lu added.
Talking about China’s strong ties with Pakistan, Lu said theirs was an “all-weather strategic cooperative” partnership.
“We are iron friends. We firmly support each other on issues concerning each other’s core interests. And Pakistan has been the priority in China’s diplomacy. Now there is sound momentum made in our cooperation and frequent high-level exchanges,” he said.
“We are deepening our mutually beneficial cooperation and conducting close coordination in international and regional forums. PM Imran Khan attended the 2nd Belt and Road Forum in China last month and he met with President Xi and Premier Li and V-P Wang,” he said, adding that both sides signed many bilateral cooperation agreements.
“We believe V-P Wang’s visit will further deepen our high-level exchanges, friendship and mutual trust and advance our China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) development and cooperation across the board. And inject new impetus in a closer community of shared future in the new era for our two countries.”