India, China should stick to Panchsheel principles, says Chinese envoy ahead of Modi-Xi meet

China and India should stick to the principles of Panchsheel, which have now become the basic norms of international relations, Chinese Ambassador to India, Sun Weidong said.

With a high-level engagement on the horizon, the Chinese diplomat spoke to here and said, "China and India should strengthen communication and cooperation on international and regional affairs. We jointly advocated the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence or Panchsheel which have become the basic norms of international relations. We should stick to these principles and bring to a great height of development."

The Panchsheel agreement or the Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence was signed between India and China in 1954.

The Five Principles are mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression, non-interference in each other's internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful co-existence.

Advocating the strengthening of coordination and cooperation between the two Asian giants, Chinese envoy Sun said, "At the international level, we need to steadily advance reform of the World Trade Orgsation (WTO), promote South-South cooperation, and adhere to the core values and principles of WTO, promote trade and investment liberalisation and facilitation, and build an open world economy that is conducive to the further development of developing countries and emerging markets."

"We should firmly uphold the international system with the United Nations at its core and make the international order more just and equitable," he added.

The Chinese diplomat's comments have come in the backdrop of the second informal summit between India and China, which is supposed to be held in Mahabalipuram this month.

The first summit of this kind was held last year between the two leaders in Wuhan, which pointed the direction for further development of bilateral ties between India and China.

At the regional level, Sun called for the resolution of disputes peacefully through dialogues and consultations.

"We will continue to carry out 'China-India plus' cooperation, promote free trade, infrastructure development and regional cooperation initiatives like the BCIM cooperation, harmonize policies and development strategies of all countries, strengthen cooperation in the fields of energy conservation, environmental protection and climate change, and achieve the common goal of prosperity," he said while speaking to here.

The Ambassador also said that strengthening solidarity and cooperation between India and China is an opportunity for both the countries' respective development and "the world at large."

"It will not only benefit one-third of the world's population but also inject new impetus into our respective development and add factors of stability and positive energy to international relations," Sun added.

He spoke on a gamut of bilateral areas between India and China to , including trade and the border question and also gave a comprehensive outline of the outcomes and its implementation of the Wuhan Summit.

"Over the past year, after the Wuhan Summit, the two sides have actively implemented the important consensus reached by the two leaders, and we are upgrading and improving the quality of China-India relations, which embarked on the track of sound and stable development. The positive effect of the Wuhan Summit now is constantly unfolding," Sun said.

"The mutual trust and friendship between the two leaders are being now extended to all sectors, localities and peoples of the two countries and translated into tangible achievements," he added.

He also hoped that India will provide a more fair, friendly and convenient business environment for Chinese compes to operate in India. Sun also outlined the major investments made in India by Chinese compes, which have led to the creation of around 200,000 jobs.

The envoy also touched upon the historical and cultural ties shared between the two emerging countries, quoting a Chinese scholar who had visited India and taken back numerous Buddhist scriptures which were translated. Sun also highlighted that watching Bollywood films is a rising trend amongst Chinese youth, with Aamir Khan being a known face back home.

( With inputs from ANI )