Big Picture

Upbeat about ties with India, China policy paper says bilateral relations have 'deepened'

 China has painted an upbeat picture of its ties with India in its latest policy document on Asia-Pacific security, saying their partnership has "deepened", but skirted references to contentious issues such as India's NSG bid and efforts to get JeM chief Masood Azhar banned by the UN.

A white paper titled "China's Policies on Asia-Pacific Security Cooperation", released on Wednesday, said China and India made "new progress" in bilateral exchanges amid divergence in ties over China-Pakistan-Economic Corridor and India's growing strategic partnership with Vietnam.

Besides, in an interesting reference to counter-terrorism, the document without naming Pakistan, noted, "China believes that dialogue among different civilizations should be enhanced and a holistic approach taken to eliminate the breeding grounds of terrorism by addressing both its symptoms and root causes by political, economic and diplomatic means.