Distinguished Guests,
Ladies, Gentlemen and Friends,
Good afternoon and namaste!
I am very glad to welcome all of you to the Chinese Embassy, and jointly commemorate the 70th Anniversary of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. On your way here, you may find that our Embassy has Panchsheel Marg to its south and Shantipath to its east. The names of these two roads highlight the special connection between the Five Principles and our two countries.
The guests here today are broadly representative. There are senior leaders from political parties who actively promote the development of China-India relations, representatives from friendship organizations that received the “Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence Friendship Award” from President Xi Jinping, senior scholars and media personnel who have long been advocating China-India friendly cooperation, and vibrant young fellows. We gather here today for the same purpose, that is carrying forward the spirit of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence and jointly promoting the healthy and stable development of China-India relations.
Seven decades ago, the Chinese leadership put forward the Five Principles for the first time when meeting with an Indian delegation, and gave an answer to the very important question of how to handle state-to-state relations. After that, the Five Principles were included in the China-India and China-Myanmar joint statements, as well as a series of important international documents. They have been widely recognized and observed by the international community, and become basic norms for international relations and fundamental principles of international law. Over the past 70 years, the Five Principles have expanded from bilateral to multilateral, from Asia to the world. They have transcended time and space and overcome estrangement, showed robust resilience and everlasting relevance, and made indelible historic contributions to the cause of human progress.
Ladies, gentlemen and friends,
China has remained a staunch champion and faithful practitioner of the Five Principles. The Five Principles have been enshrined in China’s Constitution, and constitute the cornerstone of China’s foreign policy. Entering the new era, with the shared and fundamental interests of all peoples in mind, President Xi Jinping put forward the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind, providing a new answer to what kind of world to build and how to build it. This is the best way to inherit, advance and enrich the Five Principles under new circumstances.
On June 28, China hosted commemorative events marking the 70th anniversary of the Five Principles in Beijing and issued the Beijing Declaration. President Xi Jinping delivered an important address at the Conference. He expounded on the essence of the Five Principles and their relevance for our times, and pointed the direction for building a community with a shared future for mankind. He underlined the need of all countries in the world to uphold the principle of sovereign equality, cement the foundation of mutual respect, turn the vision for peace and security into reality, unite all forces to achieve prosperity, commit to fairness and justice, and embrace an open and inclusive mindset. He advocated that the Global South should be the staunch force for peace, the core driving force for open development, the construction team of global governance, and the advocates for exchange among civilizations. He also announced eight measures to support cooperation of the Global South. President Xi’s address is visionary and profound, and of far-reaching significance for us to draw on the historical wisdom to tackle global challenges and build a beautiful world together.
Ladies, gentlemen and friends,
The main purpose to hold this seminar here today is to review the essential commitment that we advocated the Five Principles, better carry forward their spirit, promote the healthy and stable development of China-India relations, and build a community with a shared future for mankind. I would like to share my understandings of the Five Principles first.
Firstly, the Five Principles have established an effective model for handling international relations. The key elements of the Five Principles, namely, “mutual” and “coexistence”, fully conform with the purposes and principles of the U.N. Charter, and stress the importance of mutuality and equality in handling state-to-state relations. They highlight the intercorrelation of rights, obligations and responsibilities of all countries which is the essence of international rule of law, thus constituting an unequivocal and effective code of conduct for all countries to follow in finding the right way to get along with each other. At present, the future of all countries are linked more closely together. It has fallen upon us to pursue harmony on the basis of peaceful coexistence, and to build a new type of international relations with win-win cooperation at the core. This is how we can help each other succeed and work together for this one and only planet Earth.
Secondly, the Five Principles have served as prime guidance for properly resolving disputes.The Principles offered a new path toward peaceful settlement of historic issues and international disputes, triumphing over obsolete, narrow-minded, antagonistic and confrontational mindsets such as bloc politics and sphere of influence. They embody the idea of seeking common ground while shelving differences, which not only provides guidelines for countries to properly handle differences, but also points out the way to develop normal relations between countries when disputes cannot be solved for time being. We need to stay committed to settling disputes through dialogue, resolving differences through consultation, and develop friendly and cooperative relations.
Thirdly, the Five Principles provide a strong boost to promoting the peace and development of the world.The Principles conformed to the trend for national independence and liberation in Asia, Africa and Latin America after the Second World War, rejected belligerent and bullying practices of the law of the jungle, bolstered the efforts of developing countries to deepen solidarity and cooperation and seek strength through unity, and contributed to the improvement and development of North-South relations. Facing the profound changes unseen in a century, we should uphold the essential commitment to equality, mutual benefit and peaceful coexistence, hold high the banner of building a community with a shared future for mankind, and promote an equal and orderly multipolar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization. We should implement the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative, bring broad prospects of peace and stability for the international community, and present the world with more prosperity and development.
Ladies, gentlemen and friends,
Looking at the past, the Chinese leadership advocated the Five Principles together with India and other countries, which marked a groundbreaking achievement in the history of international relations. At present, we should inherit and further promote the spirit of the Principles, jointly promote the healthy and stable development of China-India relations, and make unremitting efforts toward a brighter future of the two peoples and humanity. I would like to make some proposals for the development of China-India relations.
Firstly, we should accurately grasp the characterization of our relationship and establish a model of positive interaction. China and India are neighboring countries with a long history of friendly exchanges. From a strategic and long-term perspective, the leaders of the two countries reached important consensus that China and India are cooperation partners and development opportunities, not competitors or threats. This has charted the course for the development of China-India relations. We should firmly uphold the consensus reached by the leaders, form the right perception about each other, and objectively view each other’s strategic intentions. We should grasp the right direction of bilateral relations, hold the bottom line of peaceful coexistence, avoid misunderstanding and misjudgment, and bring China-India relations back on the track of sound and steady development at an early date.
Secondly, properly manage our divergence and avoid the mindset of competition and confrontation. Divergence does exist between neighbors. The key is how it is viewed and handled. China and India are both ancient civilizations, major developing countries and emerging economies. Our common interests far outweigh the differences. We should always make mutual respect and mutual trust the ground rules, and respect each other’s core interests and major concerns. We should always properly manage differences through dialogue, and prevent the overall relationship from being defined by specific differences or disrupted by certain issues.
Thirdly, we should focus on our mutually beneficial cooperation and advance the coordinated development. China and India have broad cooperation space in bilateral and multilateral fields. Peaceful coexistence and shared development will not only benefit our two peoples, but also promote the development and prosperity of Asia and the world. We need to enhance communication in various levels and fields, deepen exchanges between political parties, think tanks, people to people and youth, strengthen win-win cooperation in economy and trade, and create favourable conditions for the development of the bilateral relations. We also need to enhance communication and collaboration in regional and international affairs, join hands to respond to global challenges, and safeguard the common interests of developing countries.
Ladies, gentlemen and friends,
This seminar is a friendly gathering between the Chinese Embassy and our old and new friends. I look forward to listening to your remarks on today’s theme, especially your positive and constructive suggestions to the future development of China-India relations.
Thank you!
