China and India should enhance multilayered cooperation and have “more candid exchanges of views” to forge a healthy and orderly bilateral relationship, according to top scholars from both countries.

As the world is undergoing profound changes, Beijing and New Delhi must rely on a more peaceful international environment and closer bilateral ties to achieve their dreams of building prosperous nations, experts said during the Fudan University-Indian Foundation Dialogue on Sino-India Relations in Shanghai on Wednesday.

Researchers from nearly 20 institutions, including India’s Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses, and the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, urged the two parties to seek common interests, explore opportunities for co-development and guide domestic rhetoric in a positive manner.

Following an opening speech by Wu Xinbo, executive dean of Fudan University’s Institute of International Studies, scholars held in-depth discussions on topics including Sino-Indian cooperation on regional matters, economic relations and cooperation on multilateral mechanisms.

The symposium — the fourth of its kind since 2014 — has grown into a critical channel for effective informal diplomacy between the two countries.