India willing to work with China to mend ties: MEA

India on Friday reciprocated to the positive vibes from China and said that it was willing to work with the neighbouring nation to mend bilateral ties.

"We are willing to work with the Chinese side to develop our relations based on commonalities while dealing with differences on the basis of mutual respect and sensitivity to each other's interests, concerns and aspirations," Raveesh Kumar, spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, said.

Kumar articulated New Delhi's response to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's recent statement that the two neighbouring nations should shed mental inhibitions, manage differences and meet each other halfway to enhance bilateral ties.

"As two major countries and large economies, relations between India and China are not just important bilaterally, but also have regional and global significance," said the MEA spokesperson.

New Delhi's troubled ties with Beijing worsened further last year. Beijing was upset about India's opposition to Belt-and-Road initiative of China as well as growing strategic convergence of India, US and Japan in Asia-Pacific.

New Delhi was disappointed by Beijing's persistent policy of shielding anti-India terrorists based in Pakistan from United Nations' sanctions and blocking India's entry into the Nuclear Suppliers' Group.

The face-off between Indian Army and Chinese People's Liberation Army in Doklam Plateau in western Bhutan from June 18 to August 28 brought the bilateral relations to a new low.

New Delhi and Beijing, however, have been trying to mend ties over the past few months, with some back-to-back engagements in November and December 2017 and a series of high-level engagements lined up over the next few months.

"During the meeting between Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi and President Xi Jinping in Xiamen in September last year, the two leaders agreed that sound development of relations between India and China are a factor of stability amidst today's global uncertainties and that the two countries should not allow their differences to become disputes," said Kumar.

"Since then, both sides have maintained regular exchanges at all levels, which have helped in strengthening bilateral communication."

He was referring to the meeting between Modi and Xi on the sideline of the BRICS summit in Xiamen in China in September 2017 – just a few days after the face-off in Doklam Plateau had ended. Wang too on Thursday referred to the meeting between Xi and Modi in Xiamen.

New Delhi of late issued an advisory asking the senior leaders and official functionaries in the states or at the Centre to stay away from exiled Tibetan leader Dalai Lama's events – ostensibly to avoid hurting the sensitivities of the communist country.