Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Sept 12: Seeking to improve the bilateral ties despite continued tensions over border differences, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held a meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in New Delhi on Saturday evening and welcomed the steady progress being made in the bilateral relations between the two countries since they met last about a year ago.
Mr Jinping reportedly told Mr Modi that both the countries could “fully learn” from each other’s strengths and support one another. Mr Xi had arrived in New Delhi on Saturday afternoon for his first visit to India in seven years and after attending the BRICS Summit held talks with PM Modi which lasted for about 50 minutes focusing on border issues, trade and investment.
“In the face of a complex international landscape marked by intertwined changes and challenges, China and India, as the world’s two most populous countries and important members of the Global South, shoulder significant responsibilities. Both sides should keep the future of humanity in mind and the well-being of their peoples at heart, and work together to advance high-quality cooperation within the greater BRICS framework,” Mr Xi said.
The two leaders welcomed the steady progress in India-China bilateral relations since their last meeting in Tianjin during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit on August 31, 2025, and also reaffirmed that both countries should take a strategic and long-term perspective on their ties.
“It gives me great pleasure to extend a warm welcome to you. Thank you very much for your positive remarks at the BRICS Summit. I express my gratitude for the support and cooperation received from China during India’s BRICS Chairmanship. We now have the opportunity to discuss bilateral cooperation. Once again, a warm welcome to India,” PM Modi said.
The Chinese President stated that he received the invitation to visit India on his birthday — June 15 — and added that in their 21 meetings over the years, he and PM Modi have “guided India-China relations onto a path of steady development.”
“On my birthday, I received the invitation to visit your hometown. We have met 21 times and reached a series of important consensuses, which have guided China-India relations onto a path of steady development,” Mr Xi said. “China has always viewed and developed its relations with India from a strategic and long-term perspective. Although our two countries have different national conditions, we can fully learn from each other’s strengths, support one another, achieve success together, and pursue common development.”
“In the face of the profound changes unseen in a century and the unprecedented pandemic situation, China and India, as the world’s two most populous countries and important members of the Global South, shoulder significant responsibilities. Both sides should keep the future of humanity in mind and care for the well-being of our peoples, working together to play the role of major countries,” he added. “We should advocate an equal and orderly multipolar world, not privatise our own interests, and contribute more positive energy to world peace, stability, development, and prosperity.”
“Both leaders had a productive meeting on the sidelines, where they reviewed the steady progress in India-China relations since their last meeting in Tianjin. They underscored the importance of maintaining peace and tranquillity in border areas, and reaffirmed their commitment to pursue cooperation based on mutual respect, mutual interest and mutual sensitivity,” Ministry of External Affairs spokersperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a statement.
According to the statement, the two leaders “welcomed the steady progress in India-China bilateral relations since their last meeting in Tianjin in August 2025.” “Differences should not become disputes. Prime Minister highlighted that both sides must be guided by three mutuals- mutual respect, mutual sensitivity and mutual interest,” the ministry said.
In the bilateral talks, the Prime Minister stressed that “peace and tranquillity” in border areas are essential for both nations’ relations. “Prime Minister emphasised that peace and tranquillity in the border areas remain an essential basis for the continued development of bilateral relations. He underlined the need for both sides to observe existing agreements and understandings on border-related issues.
“The two leaders 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,” the statement read. China, by contrast, has traditionally maintained that the boundary dispute should be dealt with separately from other aspects of bilateral ties.
The PM Modi-Xi Jinping meeting follows a number of high-level exchanges between the two governments. National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval held Special Representative level talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing late last month. The discussions covered the delimitation of the frontier, trans-boundary cooperation and the need to maintain peace along the LAC.
Doval and Wang are the designated Special Representatives for the India-China boundary negotiations. The roles were established in 2003 to seek a solution to the 3,488-km border dispute.
Earlier at the BRICS Summit, Mr Xi taking a veiled dig at the United States and President Donald Trump had said the conflict in the West Asia that began in late February was neither serving any purpose, nor the world’s interests. “As the situation in the Middle East and the Gulf region continues to evolve, the war there has caused serious losses to people across the region,” Xi said. “It does not serve the common interests of the international community.”
In his message at the event, the Chinese leader also called on the BRICS members to oppose sovereignty violations and work in safeguarding peace across the global. Xi, who is on a two-day India visit, said no country should accept an interference in their internal affairs, and “constructively participate in resolving hotspot issues.”
Xi also called on the BRICS to oppose “protectionism” in all forms. “We should support the multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization at its core and reject all forms of protectionism,” he said. The timing of Xi’s dig at the US is critical, as the Chinese leader is all set to visit Washington in around two weeks.
China and the US have long been trade rival, with Beijing openly criticising Washington over its conflict with Tehran. However, the US President has justified the attack on Iran and maintained that the Islamic Republic would never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. The Trump administration has also called on Tehran to open the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway between Iran and Oman through which nearly one-fifth of the world’s total crude passes through.
However, Iran, which is also a member of the BRICS and its president was present at the Summit, has maintained that Hormuz falls under its control and justified its nuclear programme, saying it was only for civilian use and warning the US against striking its nuclear facilities.