India-China Meet: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping finally held a bilateral meeting after a gap of five years as tensions at the India-China border areas see some easing with a resolution of the 2020 crisis being worked out by both sides.
Modi and Xi last held a bilateral meeting in October 2019 when both leaders met in Tamil Nadu for an informal summit meeting in Mamallapuram, popularly known as Mahabalipuram. In the time since, both leaders were seen briefly together only once. It was in Bali, Indonesia, in November 2022, when the two sides decided to “stabilise” bilateral ties.
Apart from this, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar had several discussions and negotiations with their counterparts to ensure that the two-way ties do not collapse completely as tensions in the Eastern Ladakh sector of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) continued.
In Kazan, PM Modi and President Xi discussed ways to bring peace and tranquility in the border areas based on “mutual trust, mutual respect and mutual sensitivity”.
“I am happy to meet you after five years. I believe it is important to have stable bilateral ties between India and China for the stability of the region. It is critical not only for the region but also for the larger good of both our peoples. Mutual trust, mutual respect and mutual sensitivity should be the pillar of our relationship. I believe we will talk with an open mind and we will have a constructive dialogue,” Modi told Xi in his opening remarks.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said India and China have decided to resume talks between special representatives on boundary questions, popularly known as the special representative talks. India's special representative is National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, who was also present with the PM at the meeting with Xi.
The Ministry of External Affairs said in a press release that “welcoming the recent agreement for complete disengagement and resolution of issues that arose in 2020 in the India-China border areas, Prime Minister Modi underscored the importance of properly handling differences and disputes and not allowing them to disturb peace and tranquility”.
“The two leaders agreed that the special representatives on the India-China boundary question will meet at an early date to oversee the management of peace & tranquility in border areas and to explore a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution to the boundary question. The relevant dialogue mechanisms at the level of foreign ministers and other officials will also be utilized to stabilise and rebuild bilateral relations,” it added.
The two leaders, the statement said, “affirmed that stable, predictable, and amicable bilateral relations between India and China, as two neighbours and the two largest nations on earth, will have a positive impact on regional and global peace and prosperity”.
“It will also contribute to a multi-polar Asia and a multi-polar world. The leaders underlined the need to progress bilateral relations from a strategic and long-term perspective, enhance strategic communication and explore cooperation to address developmental challenges,” it added.
India, China Agree On ‘Patrolling Arrangement’
The meeting comes after India and China arrived at a “patrolling arrangement”, under which it has been said that the Indian Army will be allowed to patrol areas which it used to prior to April 2020.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri Tuesday said patrolling and grazing activities in areas that remain a matter of conflict will be restored as they were in 2020.
“Regarding the previous agreements, in the recent discussions that have just concluded, we did not reopen the earlier agreements. This discussion was about the pending agreements and the outstanding issues,” Misri said, referring to the disengagement process that had taken place earlier.
Both the Indian Army as well as the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) are looking to disengage from the remaining points where the faceoff is currently going on, including in Demchok and Depsang Plains.
According to official sources, the next stage will be de-escalaion of troops, which will require both sides to reduce their troops in a gradual manner.
Ties between India and China took a nosedive after the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) amassed troops in the Eastern Ladakh sector of the LAC in April-May 2020, giving rise to a military standoff.
The standoff reached its peak in June 2020, when both armies clashed, resulting in the death of 20 Indian soldiers. Beijing said it lost four PLA soldiers in the clash.
In September 2020, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Moscow on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting and arrived at a five-point consensus.