Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has highlighted Beijing’s efforts to deescalate tensions between Pakistan and India as one of the key achievements of China’s ‘neighborhood diplomacy’ this year.

“During the India-Pakistan conflict, China supported the efforts of the two sides to defuse tensions and manage differences through dialogue,” the top Chinese diplomat said in an exclusive year-end interview with People’s Daily.

President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a successful second summit in Chennai and charted the course for the steady growth of China-India relations.

Wang Yi also noted the Korean Peninsula peace and denuclearization efforts, the ‘shuttle diplomacy’ to facilitate the intra-Afghan dialogue, and a boost to China-India relations. Additionally, a special emphasis was given to China-Russia relations which he said set a “a high standard and a prime example for harmonious co-existence and win-win cooperation between countries,” even though it has yet to reach “its full potential.”