75th anniversary of China-India diplomatic ties celebrated in New Delhi

NEW DELHI, April 1 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese embassy in New Delhi held a gala function to commemorate the 75th anniversary of bilateral ties on Tuesday.

India's Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, diplomats, academicians, businessmen, journalists, and other dignitaries attended the event.

Speaking on the occasion, Chinese Ambassador to India Xu Feihong said that the sound and stable development of China-India relations served the fundamental interests of people in both countries, met the common aspiration of regional countries, and was conducive to world peace, stability, development and prosperity.

"At present, as vital members of multilateral mechanisms such as BRICS, SCO and G20, China and India should take the common responsibilities of safeguarding the rights and interests of developing countries, maintaining international fairness and justice, and upholding multilateralism," said the ambassador.

"As the only two major developing countries and representatives of emerging economies with a population of over 1 billion, China-India relations have become one of the most crucial bilateral relations in the world," he said.

Bilateral economic and trade cooperation has maintained good momentum, said the Chinese ambassador.

"The people-to-people exchanges are increasing. In the first quarter of this year, the Chinese embassy and consulates-general in India have issued over 70,000 visas to Indian citizens, with a year-on-year increase of approximately 15 percent," he said.

In his address, Misri said: "Over the past five months, our two foreign ministers met twice, our special representatives on border issues met in Beijing after a gap of nearly five years, our defense ministers met, and then I had the opportunity of visiting Beijing earlier this year and held a very productive meeting with my counterpart."

He added that many positive developments have taken place over the past five months in forging closer India-China ties.