BEIJING, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- China and India should firmly follow the right path of mutual trust and cooperation between neighboring major countries, and not go astray with suspicion and distrust nor fall back on a road of negative retrogression, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Thursday.

Wang made the remarks in a telephone conversation with Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, stressing that the two sides should maintain the strategic consensuses reached by their leaders.

During the phone call, he noted that the two countries need to properly handle the border issue, so as to prevent the bilateral ties from trapping into a vicious cycle because of it.

Border disputes are an objective reality and need to be attached adequate attention and taken seriously. However, the border issue is not the whole story of China-India relations, and should be placed in a proper position in their relationship.

China and India should also adhere to the general direction that the two major emerging economies work together to achieve development, and create more conditions to further improve bilateral ties and promote pragmatic cooperation, Wang added.

Wang said that the rights and wrongs of last year's situation in China-India border areas are very clear, and profound lessons should be drawn from the past.

Recently, India has vacillated and even moved backward over its policy on China, which has affected and disrupted bilateral pragmatic cooperation, Wang said, noting that it goes against the interests of both sides.

Experience over the past few decades has repeatedly demonstrated that acts of highlighting differences will not help resolve the issue, but erode the foundation of mutual trust, he added.  ■