The long anticipated bilateral meeting of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping took place August 31, along the sidelines of day one of the Aug. 31-Sept. 1 Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, in Tianjin, China. The Indian Ministry of External Affairs released a statement reflecting New Delhi’s view, and also apparently Beijing’s view.
The Indian foreign ministry statement opened: “Both leaders welcomed the positive momentum and steady progress in bilateral relations since their last meeting in Kazan, [Russia] in October 2024. They reaffirmed that the two countries were development partners and not rivals, and that their differences should not turn into disputes. A stable relationship and cooperation between India and China and their 2.8 billion peoples on the basis of mutual respect, mutual interest and mutual sensitivity are necessary for the growth and development of the two countries, as well as for a multipolar world and a multi-polar Asia befitting the trends of the 21st century.”
It continued: “Prime Minister underlined the importance of peace and tranquility on the border areas for continued development of bilateral relations. The two leaders noted with satisfaction the successful disengagement last year and the maintenance of peace and tranquility along the border areas since then. They expressed commitment to a fair, reasonable, and mutually acceptable resolution of the boundary question proceeding from the political perspective of their overall bilateral relations and the long-term interests of the two peoples. …”
In June 2020, there was an incident along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), high up in the Himalaya Mountains, which designates the border between India and China, with some 20 deaths among Indian and China soldiers. India and China have had Special Representatives working for some to resolve the dispute. The relationship is now emerging beyond the border conflict.
One sign is the Kailash Manasarovar Yatra, which is a pilgrimage for Hindus, Buddhists and Jains to Mount Kailash and the sacred Lake Manasarovar in the Autonomous region of Tibet, in China. China had suspended access to the Yatra from 2020.
The August 31 Indian foreign ministry statement declared: “The two leaders noted the need to strengthen people-to-people ties through direct flights and visa facilitation, building on the resumption of Kailash Manasarovar Yatra and tourist visa. On economic and trade relations, they recognized the role of their two economies to stabilize world trade. They underlined the need to proceed from a political and strategic direction to expand bilateral trade and investment ties and reduce [India’s] trade deficit [with China].”
The resumption of direct flights between the two countries is important, and the ongoing growth in physical goods trade between them is a noteworthy sign.
With the improvement of relations between China and India, both of which are allies of Russia, the alignment, once again, of Russia, India, and China (RIC), as a core functioning force will be enormously significant in shaping a new world security and development architecture.
