China’s new ambassador to India vows to improve bilateral ties

NEW DELHI: Xu Feihong, the newly appointed Chinese ambassador to India, has vowed to make unremitting efforts in his mandate to promote understanding and friendship and expand exchanges and cooperation in various fields between the two Asian nations.

Xu arrived in New Delhi on May 10 and assumed office as the 17th Chinese ambassador to India, filling an 18-month vacancy.

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Before his departure, Xu sat down for an exclusive interview with the China Global Television (CGTN) in Beijing on May 7, in which he shared his feelings on taking the new post and his views on the importance of a healthy China-India relationship both for the region and the world.

“It is an honorable mission and a sacred duty. I will do my best to deepen understanding and friendship between the two peoples, expand exchanges and cooperation in various fields, and improve and advance the bilateral relationship,” he said.

“Both China and India, both time-honored civilizations, we are each other’s important neighbors and the biggest emerging markets and developing countries of the world. As President Xi Jinping said, ‘If China and India speak with one voice, the whole world will listen; if the two countries join hands, the whole world will pay attention.’ I will follow the important consensus between our leaders, reach out to friends from all sectors of India, earnestly enhance the understanding and trust between the two sides, work to restore exchanges and cooperation in various fields, and create favorable conditions for a sound and steady China-India relationship,” he continued.

Asked to comment on the narrative of “strategic rivalry” between China and India, Xu said President Xi and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have reached an important consensus that the two countries are cooperative partners, rather than competitors, in both regional and international affairs.

“President Xi and Prime Minister Modi have agreed on the important assessment that China and India are corporation partners, not competitors, and reached an important common understanding that our two countries are each other’s development opportunities, not threats. This should serve as the fundamental guidelines for the growth of bilateral relations,” said the ambassador.

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“China and India hold similar positions when it comes to supporting multilateralism, promoting global recovery, safeguarding food security, responding to climate change, and etc. Closer communication and coordination on global and regional affairs will not only bring opportunities to both countries and the world, but also add stability and positivity to international relations. It will have an important positive impact on the development of a fair and reasonable international order,” Xu said.

Xu previously served as China’s ambassador to Afghanistan from March 2011 to August 2013 and later served as ambassador to Romania from January 2015 to May 2018.