Indian regime change should not affect ties, says China

A change of government in India after the ongoing general elections will not impact Indo-China ties, Beijing said on Monday, adding the hope that whichever government comes to power will continue to strengthen relations and cooperation on bilateral issues.

The Chinese comments came during the visit of Indian foreign secretary Sujatha Singh to Beijing over the weekend for the 6th Annual Strategic Dialogue (ASD).

Singh, who will head to Moscow from Beijing, met vice-foreign minister Liu Zhenmin on Monday afternoon and was expected to meet foreign minister Wang Yi later on Monday night.

On Sunday, she had a round of meetings with experts from some of China's top think-tanks and dispelled doubts about India's continuing foreign policy in case a new regime takes over the reins of New Delhi.

Singh is learnt to have explained to the Chinese experts that India's permanent bureaucracy will ensure that broad perimeters of India's bilateral foreign policies will continue on the same path.

''We are confident that to promote China-India friendship is a shared consensus of all political parties in India. So I am confident that whichever party comes into power in India it will stay committed to friendship and cooperation between the two countries,'' Liu, also the main interlocutor for the ASD, told the Indian media before his meeting with Singh at the scenic Diaoyutai state guest house in Beijing.

''I wish to mention in particular that India is undergoing a very important election. Therefore you (Singh) have chosen to come to China at this very special time to have this strategic dialogue with us. This shows the tremendous importance that the Indian government attach to this bilateral relationship and we highly appreciate that,'' Liu said.

On the ASD, Liu said both parties will talk to each other about issues of the region and world of shared interest.

"China and India are two large countries and two biggest developing countries in the world, therefore our bilateral relationship has already gone beyond the bilateral scope and naturally besides bilateral cooperation we are also going to talk about regional and international issues,'' Liu said.

He added: ''So we can see three levels of India china cooperation on the bilateral level, regional level and international level.  It is a very important bilateral relationship.''

In her opening remarks before the meeting, Singh said, ''My visit here today is to reiterate to the government of China that the government of India attaches the highest priority to India's relations with China. We are committed to consolidating our strategic and cooperative partnership for peace and prosperity. The core of our vision is of a good neighbourly relationship based on mutual trust and understanding and where we are sensitive to each other's concerns and aspirations.''