Hu Shisheng: Political mutual trust between China and South Asian countries reaches new heights

On December 20th, the 2026 Global Times Annual Meeting with the theme of "The World Can Trust China: New Journey, New Opportunities" was held in Beijing. In the discussion on the topic of "Symbiotic States, New Exploration of Great Powers' Coexistence with Their Neighbors", Hu Shisheng, Deputy Secretary General of the Academic Committee of the China Academy of Modern International Relations, summarized China's South Asian diplomacy this year with the words "one two three". One is to adhere to the overall theme of "closeness, sincerity, benefit, and inclusiveness", and the other is to adhere to the coordinated development and security, driven by "two wheels". The third is to promote the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind by advancing the three paths of "good neighborliness, prosperity, and security".


Hu Shisheng said that good neighborliness mainly refers to political mutual trust. In the upcoming year of 2025, the political mutual trust between China and South Asian countries has reached an unprecedented height in the past five years, and China India relations have emerged from a low point. The high-level exchanges between the two countries are very close, indicating that China India relations are showing a positive trend. At the same time, China Pakistan relations have reached new heights. In the past, we described the China Pakistan relationship as "higher than mountains, deeper than seas, sweeter than honey, and harder than steel", but now it has formed "four consistent" - always highly trusting and supporting each other; Always focus on development and mutual benefit; Always safeguard safety and benefit people's livelihoods; Always coordinate and cooperate to meet challenges together. In addition, high-level interactions between China and other South Asian countries have reached an unprecedented density, with leaders from multiple countries visiting China one after another.

From the perspective of wealthy neighbors, significant achievements have been made in economic cooperation and development. In terms of jointly building the "the Belt and Road" initiative, in 2025, the China Pakistan Economic Corridor will officially enter the second phase, upgrading to five corridors including the growth corridor, livelihood corridor, innovation corridor, green corridor and open corridor; And reached a consensus among China, Afghanistan and Pakistan on promoting the China Pakistan Economic Corridor to move westward into Afghanistan. At the same time, it also discussed the China Myanmar Economic Corridor to move westward into Bangladesh. With Nepal, it mainly emphasized the implementation of the "the Belt and Road" project; In addition, China held joint economic and trade committee meetings with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh respectively, and reached multiple memorandums of understanding on trade connectivity and supply chain cooperation.

From the perspective of neighbors, it mainly manifests in security cooperation. In 2025, the South Asian region is not peaceful, and China actively promotes diplomatic efforts to facilitate talks and peace in the cross-border conflicts between India and Pakistan, as well as between Pakistan and Afghanistan. It even actively mediates through a small multilateral mechanism - the China Pakistan Afghanistan Foreign Ministers' Meeting - to promote regional peace and stability. During the India Pakistan conflict, China actively mediated through hotlines and other means to strengthen political dialogue between the two countries. In addition, China also held the "Warrior IX" joint anti-terrorism exercise with Pakistan and the "Everest Friendship-2025" joint army exercise with Nepal to combat non-traditional security threats.