NEW DELHI, Oct 23” The Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met at Kazan in Russia Wednesday for the first bilateral meeting since 2019 when the ties between the two countries had taken a severe hit since the military stand-off in Ladakh due to Beijing’s “unilateral” actions of violating the Line of Actual Control.
The bilateral talks between PM Modi and Xi Jinping took place on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit. It happened less than 72 hours after a breakthrough in talks – both at diplomatic and military levels – ensuring that the status quo returns to what it was before May 2020, when the stand-off in Ladakh began with the military clash in Galwan Valley.
The breakthrough in the patrolling arrangement signals a move towards de-escalation in a region where both countries stationed tens of thousands of troops. The meeting underscored the upturn in the India-China relation following a consensus on patrolling arrangement along the Line of Actual Control that had earlier faced multiple hiccups over the last few years.
“Excellency, I am happy to meet you, and like you mentioned, this is a formal meeting between us after five years. It is my belief that the importance of India-China relations is not just for the citizens of our two countries, but also very significant for peace, stability, and progress for the entire world.
Excellency, We welcome the consensus reached on the issues that have arisen in the last 4 years along the border. It should be our priority to ensure there is peace and stability along our border. Mutual trust, mutual respect, and mutual sensitivity should be the basis our bilateral relations. Today, we have got an opportunity to speak about all these issues and I trust that we will hold these talks with an open mind and that our talks will be constructive going forward. Thank you,” Mr Modi said.
In response Mr Jinping said, “Mr Prime Minister, it is my great pleasure to meet you here in Kazan. It is the first time for us to have a formal (bilateral) meeting in five years’ time. Both the people in our two countries and the international community are paying close attention to our meeting.
“China and India are both ancient civilisations, major developing countries, and important members of the Global South. We are both at a crucial phase in our respective modernisation endeavours. It best serves the fundamental interest of our two countries and two peoples for both sides to keep to the trend of history and the right directions of our bilateral relations.
“It is important for both sides to have more communication and cooperation, properly handle our differences and disagreements, and to facilitate each others pursuit of development aspirations. It is also important for both sides to shoulder our international responsibility, set an example for boosting the strength and unity of the developing countries, and to contribute to promoting multi-polarisation and democracy in international relations.
Mr Prime Minister, I am prepared to exchange views with your excellency on our bilateral relationship and issues of mutual interest.”
There have been a couple of brief interactions between PM Modi and Xi Jinping since the 2020 Galwan clash – on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Indonesia’s Bali in November 2022 and the BRICS summit in South Africa’s Johannesburg in August 2023. However, these were not bilateral meetings where trade, economy and other factors were discussed.
There had been no direct flight between the two nations for four years. Visa for Chinese technicians was granted after extra layers of security and investments from companies based in neighbouring countries needed extra vetting and security clearances. The outcome of the bilateral meeting will make it clear if trade, economic and people-to-people ties will return to normalcy.
(Manas Dasgupta)