India vows to boost China relations on trust, says Modi

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that New Delhi is committed to improving ties with Beijing during a key meeting with China’s President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of a regional security forum.

Modi is visiting China for the first time in seven years to attend a two-day Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting, joined by Russian President Vladimir Putin and other leaders from Central, South and Southeast Asia, as well as the Middle East, showcasing Global South solidarity.

“We are committed to advancing our relations based on mutual respect, trust, and sensitivities,” Modi told Xi during the meeting on Sunday, according to a video clip shared on his official X account.

The bilateral talks took place five days after Washington imposed 50% tariffs on Indian goods over New Delhi’s purchase of Russian oil.

Analysts suggest Modi and Xi aim to present a united front against Western pressure

Modi also highlighted that an atmosphere of “peace and stability” has been established along their disputed Himalayan border, the site of a deadly 2020 troop clash that had frozen much of their cooperation.

He added that both nations reached an agreement on border management, though he did not provide specific details.

Both leaders had a breakthrough meeting in Russia last year after reaching a border patrol agreement, setting off a tentative thaw in ties that has accelerated in recent weeks as New Delhi seeks to hedge against renewed tariff threats from Washington.

Direct flights between both nations, which have been suspended since 2020, are “being resumed”, Modi added, without providing a timeframe.

China had agreed to lift export curbs on rare earths, fertilisers and tunnel boring machines this month during a key visit to India by China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

China opposes Washington’s steep tariffs on India and will “firmly stand with India,” Chinese Ambassador to India Xu Feihong said this month.

For decades, Washington painstakingly cultivated ties with New Delhi in the hope that it would act as a regional counterweight to Beijing.

In recent months, China has allowed Indian pilgrims to visit Buddhist sites in Tibet, and both countries have lifted reciprocal tourist visa restrictions.

“Both India and China are engaged in what is likely to be a lengthy and fraught process of defining a new equilibrium in the relationship,” said Manoj Kewalramani, a Sino-Indian relations expert at the Takshashila Institution think tank in Bengaluru.