Very happy that India, China moving forward, says Gen Naravane

New Delhi: Former Army chief Gen M M Naravane (retd) Thursday said it is “fortuitous” that India-China ties are “on the mend” with a number of initiatives announced at political, diplomatic and military levels for the improvement of “our engagements and relations” going forward.

In his address at an event here late in the evening, he also said, “We are hopeful that China too will reciprocate our goodwill as we move ahead.”

His remarks come amid a major thaw in China-India ties. India and China on Tuesday unveiled a series of measures for a “stable, cooperative and forward-looking” relationship that included jointly maintaining peace along the frontier, reopening border trade, promoting investment flows, and resuming direct flight connectivity at the earliest.

The announcements aimed at realising the “full” development potential of the two Asian giants came amid growing estrangement in ties between India and the US over President Donald Trump’s policies on trade and tariffs.

“It’s not that the current momentum of change and interaction that is taking place between India and China is something that has been forced upon us due to some events. We always wanted good relations with China,” Gen Naravane (retd) said.

He also expressed happiness that India and China are “moving forward” on discussing the boundary question.

“It is a boundary and not a border, and like in a boundary, it is open to negotiations... a certain amount of give and take is possible,” the former Army chief said.

On Tuesday, India and China listed the measures in a joint document after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held wide-ranging talks earlier this week with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, besides meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“It is fortuitous that over the last couple of weeks, our relations with China are on the mend, a number of initiatives have been announced at political, diplomatic and military levels so that our engagements and relations improve as we go forward,” Naravane said.