Foreign secretary S Jaishankar was in China recently for the bilateral strategic talks (PTI photo)

NEW DELHI: India described the recent strategic dialogue with China on Tuesday as positive and constructive as it urged that a balanced and objective view be taken of “what is clearly one of the key relationships in international politics”.

Responding to an article in Global Times, which alleged that Indian officials were pessimistic and cynical about the “positive” dialogue, the government said that it believed that the dialogue addressed the full complexity of Sino-Indian ties. “Our assessment is that the recent meeting was positive and constructive,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay said in response to a question on the article that appeared in Global Times.

“We both agreed that at the time when the global situation is in flux, amore stable, substantive and forward-looking India-China relationship was good for the international system,” Baglay added. “The two sides had open and useful exchanges on Afghanistan, the United Nations, counter-terrorism and nuclear issues. While in some cases, we found common ground, in others, it was felt that dialogue should continue further,” he said.

An editorial in the state-run Global Times suggested that New Delhi could take a leaf out of how Beijing benefited from its relationship with the US, “despite major ideological differences and visible geopolitical confrontations”. It said it was in India’s interest to “rationalise the concerns over its disparity with China” and not “obsess with false parity”.

During the strategic dialogue, New Delhi raised concerns over China’s repeated opposition to India’s entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group and veto against a resolution seeking a global ban against JeM chief Masood Azhar.

