Beijing: No one should make China an issue in their bilateral relations and their cooperation should not harm the interests of another country, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Friday reacting to queries on the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Trump. Modi’s meeting with Trump in Washington, weeks after the US President assumed office for his second term, has evoked considerable interest in China, especially on defence cooperation between New Delhi and Washington.
In the joint statement issued after Modi-Trump talks, the two leaders reaffirmed that a close partnership between the US and India is central to a free, open, peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific region and spoke of strengthening Quad partnership among other issues.
Replying to questions on this, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said bilateral cooperation should not target third countries.
“No one should make China an issue in the relations and cooperation between countries or seek to instigate bloc politics and confrontation,” Guo said to a question on Trump’s offer to provide F-35 fighter jets to India besides strengthening defence cooperation.
China believes that relations and cooperation between countries should not target any third party or harm others’ interests, and should be conducive to regional peace, stability and prosperity, he said.