Responding to a question in Beijing on how the Chinese military viewed the recent bilateral summit in India, Chinese Defence Ministry spokesperson Senior Colonel Wu Qian told the press that "it is the right choice for the Chinese dragon and the Indian elephant to dance together".
"Under the guidance of the consensus reached by the two leaders, the Chinese military is ready to work with the Indian side to properly manage differences, enhance mutual trust, maintain and enhance exchanges and cooperation, and push the relationship towards the right direction of greater mutual trust and friendly cooperation," Wu said.
After the meeting in Mamallapuram, in the state of Tamil Nadu, Xi called for a long-term plan to develop India-China relations, saying bilateral differences should not be allowed to dilute cooperation.
Stating that China and India should be good neighbours and partners living in harmony and moving forward hand in hand, the Chinese president stated:
"To achieve this, 'Dragon and Elephant Dance' is the only correct choice for China and India, which is in the fundamental interests of both the countries and their people."
Both Modi and Xi agreed that strategic communication has deepened and should be continued. They opined that the summit provided an excellent platform for the leadership to engage and that the tradition should be kept, said Indian Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale.
The two countries are involved in a slew of territorial and boundary issues.
New Delhi on Thursday accused China of the "illegal occupation of large tracts of land in the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh" reminding China that "it had illegally acquired Indian territories from Pakistan-administered Kashmir under the China-Pakistan Boundary Agreement of 1963".
