Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Lin Jian. File | Photo credit: Reuters
China is willing to work with India to promote “common interests” in the Global South and the BRICS grouping, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) said on Thursday (March 26, 2026). After a meeting between Foreign Minister Wang Yi and outgoing Indian Ambassador Pradeep Kumar Rawat in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said the two sides saw each other as “development opportunities”.
The remarks from Beijing echoed those of Chinese Ambassador Xu Feihong, who on the same day called for greater cooperation between the two sides, saying there were “some” stakeholders who did not favor positive relations between India and China.
After the meeting between Mr. Wang and Mr. Rawat, Mr. Lin said, “China is willing to work with India to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, continue to see each other as threats, treat each other as partners instead of rivals, expand mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields, protect the common interests of the Global South, strengthen multilateral cooperation in mechanisms such as BRICS….” India is the current chair of BRICS and the next BRICS summit is scheduled to be held in India.
Cultural cooperation
In Delhi, the Chinese ambassador echoed similar positive sentiments, saying that Indian yoga, aromatherapy and cuisine were gaining popularity in China and called for greater cultural cooperation. “China and India are neighbors that cannot be separated. It should be the right choice for both sides to be good neighborly friends and partners to help each other succeed and realize the ‘Dragon-Elephant Tango.’ are making efforts to normalize relations, including the restoration of civil aviation links that were severed as a result of the Galwan clashes in June 2020.
In a speech titled “Bridging Hearts Through Youth: China and India Towards a Shared Future”, the envoy said India and China should “encourage objective and rational views of each other”.
“We welcome more young people from India to visit China, see it for themselves, experience the vitality of China’s modernization, share stories of Sino-Indian friendship, and help build a more objective and rational understanding between our peoples,” said Mr. Xu.
In line with the positive sentiment expressed by Chinese diplomats, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) is making changes at the transfer and posting level that will be relevant to India-China relations in the coming years. India’s current High Commissioner to the UK, Vikram Doraiswami, will be the next ambassador to China, and Rudrendra Tandon, India’s former ambassador to Afghanistan, has been appointed as the MEA Secretary (East).
Published – 26 March 2026 22:44 IST
