In what is seen as a major step forward towards peace and harmony along the Sino-Indian border, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Chinese President Xi Jinping for bilateral talks on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit, at Kazan which was the first structured discussion in five years.
Considering that Sino-Indian border tensions had prevailed since the Galwan Valley clash in 2020 followed by a series of clashes between the troops of the two nations, the leaders highlighted the importance of peaceful ties between India and China, with Modi emphasising that maintaining stability along the border should remain a top priority for both countries.
As Chinese President Xi said that “both the people in the two countries and the international community, are paying great attention to our meeting. China and India are both ancient civilisations, major developing countries, and important members of the Global South. We are both in a crucial phase in our respective modernisation endeavours.”
As the External Affairs in a statement welcomed the recent agreement between the two nations “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 tranquillity.”
Modi – Xi meeting on October 23 comes after an agreement was reached to resume regular patrols along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh.
In 2017, a conflict involving a Bhutanese-controlled area on the border between Bhutan and China was successfully de-escalated.
In 2018, the two armies got engaged in a standoff at the Doklam plateau along the disputed Bhutan-China border.
The Sino-Indian border is 4,056 km long and crosses five Indian states and union territories: Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh. The root cause of tension is the ill-defined border, which can shift due to rivers, lakes, and snowcaps.
In 2020, there was a deadly clash in the Galwan Valley in Ladakh, where 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese soldiers were killed in hand-to-hand fighting.
A year later in 2021, a minor face-off took place between Indian and Chinese soldiers in Sikkim. In 2022, there were minor border scuffles in the Tawang sector of Arunachal Pradesh.
Modi’s last formal bilateral meeting with Xi took place in October 2019 in Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu, just months before the June 2020 clashes in Galwan, which escalated tensions into a military standoff. Although they had brief encounters at the Group of 20 meeting in Bali in 2022 and again in Johannesburg in 2023, this marks a significant renewal of dialogue.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced on October 21 that an agreement had been reached concerning patrolling arrangements along the LAC in the India-China border regions.
A statement was issued after the Modi-Xi meeting which welcomed 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 and 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.
The two leaders affirmed that stable, predictable, and amicable bilateral relations between India and China, as two of the largest neighbours, 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.
– The writer is a senior journalist and media consultant. The views expressed are of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of Raksha Anirveda.
