China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi has said that he “keenly felt” during his visit to India that New Delhi and Beijing were not a threat to each other, PTI reported on Tuesday.

Wang said that the two countries should help succeed one another instead of undercutting each other.

The Chinese foreign minister had visited India on March 24 and had met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar a day after. Wang’s visit to India was the first by any Chinese leader since border clashes along the Line of Actual Control strained ties between the two nations in 2020.

The clashes in Galwan Valley in June 2020 had led to the death of 20 Indian soldiers. China had put the number of casualties on its side at four.

Wang also spoke about the border dispute between India and China.

“As mature and rational neighbours, China and India should place the border issue in an appropriate position in bilateral relations, and should not let it define or even hinder the overall development of bilateral relations,” Wang said.

On March 25, during Wang’s visit to India, Jaishankar had said that India’s relationship with China was not normal because of Beijing’s troops at the border. He had said that China’s deployment of troops at the Line of Actual Control was in contravention of the bilateral agreements.

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