Days after China protested the exchange of messages between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Taiwan President Lai Ching-te on Modi’s election victory, India on Saturday responded to Beijing’s congratulatory message and said New Delhi will continue to pursue ties with Beijing based on “mutual respect, mutual interest and mutual sensitivity”. The comments by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal come amid frosty relations between India and China ever since the border standoff in Eastern Ladakh began in May 2020. “Thank you @MFA_China for congratulating PM @narendramodi on his election victory. Will continue to pursue efforts towards normalisation of India-China ties based on mutual respect, mutual interest and mutual sensitivity,” Jaiswal posted on X. Jaiswal was responding to an X post by the Chinese Foreign ministry on June 5, a day after the Lok Sabha election results were declared, congratulating Modi on the election victory. However, later, the Chinese Foreign Ministry protested a similar exchange of messages on X between Modi and Taiwan President Lai Ching-te. Responding to a question, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a briefing Thursday, “First of all, there is no such thing as ‘president’ of the Taiwan region.” “The one-China principle is a universally recognised norm.India has made serious political commitments on this.,” she added. Taiwan, in response, accused China of “using political coercion. to confuse the international community”.
