Welcome Remarks by Dr Arvind Gupta, Director, VIF

It gives me great pleasure to welcome the delegation of academics from Sichuan University. We are pleased to note that your delegation includes post-graduate students as well. These young scholars will contribute to the development of Sino-Indian ties in the future. The VIF greatly values its relationship with the Institute of South Asian Studies at the Sichuan University. Our last interaction in Apr 2017 was highly productive. We are delighted to have another opportunity to continue our discussion.

Since our last meeting, many new development have taken place in bilateral relations. The crisis at Doklam in the summer of 2017 was unexpected. It was resolved peacefully and diplomatically. It has made us reflect on why such crisis occur in the first place and what can be done to avoid their occurrence in the future. The silver lining from the Doklam crisis was that the two countries not only were able to resolved the issue but also take step to improve their relations further. Since then our leaders have met in Wuhan, Quing Dao and Johannesburg. There is a distinct improvement in our relationship.

The task before the two countries is to sustain the current positivity in bilateral ties and build mutual trust. We also need to address the structural issues in our relations so that our partnership becomes durable and strong. We need to address the boundary question which has impacted a bilateral relation for a long time. The two sides could begin this the clarification of the Line of Actual Control to avoid the border incidence which can potentially derail the bilateral ties.

No doubt, there is a good potential in our relations on which we need to build. The two sides should take steps to address the balance of trade problem. There is considerable potential in enhancing investment in each others countries. Universities, think tanks and other institutions can also play a role in improving and enhancing the people to people contact. This will help to make our partnership more broad based.

The world is changing rapidly. India and China need to have regular exchange of view at different levels, official and non-official, to improve mutual understanding. Both sides should show sensitivity to each other concerns and aspirations as the grow simultaneously.

It is a matter of satisfaction that the two sides have institutionalised maritime dialogue at official level. This will help a better understanding of each others perceptions about Indian and Pacific Ocean. We would like to benefit from a briefing from you on the developments in South China Sea as well as the importance of China's acquisition of a naval base in Djibouti.

China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has caused anxiety in India as it passes through Indian Territory under the occupation of Pakistan. We will hope that China will be sensitive to India's concerns which are related to the sovereignty of the country.

During the course of today's discussion, we hope to discuss the opportunities and challenges and we hope of further improvement of our relations.

Thank you.