Swaraj meets Chinese counterpart, discusses issues of bilateral interest

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj Wednesday met her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the sidelines of a multilateral meeting here and discussed issues of bilateral interest, including the implementation of understanding reached during last year's Wuhan Summit.

Swaraj arrived here on Tuesday to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Council (SCO) of Foreign Ministers here in the Kyrgyz capital.

"Continuing the momentum of high-level exchanges. EAM @SushmaSwaraj met Foreign Minister of China Wang Yi on the sidelines of #SCO Foreign Minister's Meeting in Bishkek. Discussed issues of bilateral interest, including the implementation of understanding reached during Wuhan Summit," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said.

The April 27-28 Wuhan summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping was largely credited to have turned around the bilateral relations soured by the 73-day-long Doklam standoff, triggered by Chinese troops attempts to build a road close to Indian border in an area also claimed by Bhutan in 2017.

India had objected to it as it came close to a key highway connecting with North Eastern states. The standoff ended after Chinese troops halted plans to build the road.

After the Wuhan summit, both the countries stepped up efforts to improve relations on different spheres including the military-to-military ties.

Modi and Xi issued strategic guidance to their militaries to strengthen communications to build trust and understanding, a move aimed at avoiding a Doklam-like situation in the future.