New Delhi, Oct 1 (IANS) External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar on Thursday extended greetings to his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, on the founding anniversary of the People’s Republic of China, also celebrated as the country’s National Day.
Taking to X, EAM Jaishankar said, “Extend my felicitations to Politburo Member and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and the Chinese people on the founding anniversary of the People’s Republic of China.”
The founding anniversary of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is marked every year on October 1. It commemorates Mao Zedong’s formal proclamation in 1949 establishing the PRC.
The greeting comes against the backdrop of improving India-China ties in recent times.
Earlier, during his New York visit, EAM Jaishankar said that India’s relationship with China has improved from the depths of their border stand-off, but the condition of the frontier will continue to determine how far the two countries can normalise ties.
EAM Jaishankar said the India-China relationship was better than it had been in 2025, and better still compared with 2024. He cautioned against treating that recovery as a fundamental change in the relationship.
“I don’t think it’s structural change so much as a recovery from how far ties had deteriorated, he said. After the events of 2020 and the prolonged border stand-off, normal contact between the two countries had been severely affected.
Trade continued, but official exchanges, visas and flights were disrupted, he said. As the stand-off eased, some of those contacts began to return. EAM Jaishankar described that as a natural consequence of stabilisation rather than proof that the underlying issues had disappeared.
“A dip in our relationship actually doesn’t help either of us,” he said, adding that third parties could benefit from such a situation.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi, where the two leaders emphasised that “differences should not become disputes” and reaffirmed that both countries should take a strategic and long-term perspective of their ties.
During the meeting, PM Modi stressed that peace and tranquillity in the border areas remain an essential basis for the continued development of bilateral relations.
Both leaders also took note of the progress in people-to-people ties and underscored the need to further promote cultural exchanges, business linkages and greater mobility between the two countries.
According to the Ministry of External Affairs, the two leaders agreed that both sides must continue to expand common ground on regional and global issues, and in addressing challenges.
–IANS
sd/
