Kazan: Chinese President Xi Jinping told Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday that their two countries should enhance communication and cooperation and effectively manage differences, in their first formal talks in five years. The two leaders met on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in the Russian city of Kazan, signalling that ties between the Asian giants damaged by a deadly military clash in 2020 had begun to recover.
"It's my great pleasure to meet you in Kazan. This is the first time a formal meeting has been held between us in five years. Great attention is being paid to our meeting by both the people in our two countries and the international community. China and India are recognised as ancient civilizations, major developing countries, and important members of the Global South. A crucial phase in our respective modernization endeavours is being faced by both of us. The fundamental interests of our two countries and peoples are best served...' the Chinese President said.
India-China border tensions'
Relations between the world's two most populous nations - both nuclear powers - have been strained since a clash between their troops on the largely undemarcated frontier in the western Himalayas left 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers dead in 2020.
The neighbours have added tens of thousands of troops and weapons along the icy frontier over the last four years. PM Modi and Xi had not held formal bilateral talks since then, although both participated in multilateral events. Their last bilateral summit talks were held in October 2019 in the southern Indian town of Mamallapuram.
The two spoke briefly on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali in November 2022. They spoke again on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Johannesburg in August 2023 but released different versions of the conversation, suggesting they didn't see eye to eye. Xi skipped the G20 summit hosted by New Delhi the following month, a decision seen as another setback to relations.
Diplomatic efforts gained momentum in recent months after the two countries' foreign ministers met in July and agreed to step up talks to ease the border tensions.
India had made improving the wider political and damaged business ties contingent upon finding a solution to the border stand-off. New Delhi had increased the scrutiny of investments coming from China, blocked direct flights between the two countries and had practically barred issuing any visas to Chinese nationals since the Ladakh clashes. Speaking in Kazan, Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said there was hope for better India-China relations. "As we have maintained during the last four years, the restoration of peace and tranquillity on the border areas will create space for ... normalisation of our bilateral relations."
(With inputs from agency)
