Modi stresses mutual trust, mutual respect, mutual sensitivity at meeting with Xi

India and China on Wednesday welcomed an agreement for disengagement of troops and resolution of issues on their disputed border, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping deciding to reactivate several mechanisms to resolve the boundary issue and normalise the bilateral relationship.

The two leaders held their first structured and formal meeting in five years on the margins of the Brics Summit in the Russian city of Kazan, two days after India and China reached an agreement on patrolling arrangements on the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Among the mechanisms to be revived by the two sides is the dialogue between the Special Representatives for resolving the boundary issue.

“We welcome the consensus reached on issues that have arisen on the border in the past four years. Maintaining peace and stability on the border should remain our priority,” Modi said in televised opening remarks at the 50-minute-long meeting with Xi.

“Mutual trust, mutual respect and mutual sensitivity should remain the basis of our relations,” Modi said, speaking in Hindi. The India-China relationship is important for the people of the two countries and global peace, stability and progress, he said.

Xi, who spoke in Mandarin, added: “It’s important for both sides to have more communication and cooperation, properly handle our differences and disagreements, and facilitate each other’s pursuit of development aspirations.”

Noting that India and China are important players in the Global South, Xi said the fundamental interests of both sides are best served by keeping to the “right direction of our bilateral relations”.

Monday’s agreement is being seen as a key step towards ending the military standoff in Ladakh sector of the LAC, which began in April-May 2020 and took bilateral ties to their lowest point since the border war of 1962. The relationship went into deep freeze after 20 Indian soldiers and at least four Chinese troops were killed in a brutal clash at Galwan Valley in June 2020 – the first fatalities on the LAC in 45 years.

Modi welcomed the agreement for “complete disengagement and resolution of issues” that arose in the border areas in 2020 and “underscored the importance of properly handling differences and disputes and not allowing them to disturb peace and tranquillity”, the external affairs ministry said in a readout.

The leaders agreed that the Special Representatives – India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and China’s foreign minister Wang Yi – will “meet at an early date to oversee the management of peace and tranquillity in border areas and to explore a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution to the boundary question”, the readout said.

Dialogue mechanisms at the level of foreign ministers and other officials will be “utilised to stabilise and rebuild bilateral relations”. The two 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 readout added.

Modi and Xi affirmed that “stable, predictable and amicable” relations between India and China, as neighbours and the largest nations on earth, will have a “positive impact on regional and global peace” and contribute to a multipolar Asia.

Doval and Wang have met recently on the margins of international events, including at a Brics-related meeting in St Petersburg in September, but haven’t held talks in the Special Representatives format since December 2019. Foreign secretary Vikram Misri told reporters both sides hoped to schedule the next round of their talks at an “appropriate date”.

Misri noted that Monday’s agreement and its endorsement by Modi and Xi “should certainly lead to an easing of the situation along the LAC” as well as “increased trust”. He said: “The restoration of peace and tranquillity in border areas will create space for returning towards the path of normalisation. The path has been opened after the agreement, we need to walk on it.”

He said officials will take the next steps to bolster strategic communication and stabilise relations by using relevant official bilateral dialogue mechanisms.

Dozens of rounds of diplomatic and military talks between 2020 and 2022 led to the disengagement of frontline forces at Galwan Valley, the north and south banks of Pangong Lake, Gogra and Hot Springs. Misri said Monday’s agreement essentially pertains to pending issues and the remaining “friction points” of Depsang and Demchok.

Chinese troops have prevented Indian forces from accessing several crucial patrolling points at Depsang and Demchok and blocked access to traditional grazing grounds for local residents.

Misri ducked a question on whether the breakthrough will lead to both sides withdrawing additional troops deployed at the LAC, saying this is an operational matter to be decided by India’s military leadership. Since the start of the face-off, both sides had arrayed some 60,000 troops each in the Ladakh sector.

India and China, Misri said, have several confidence-building measures (CBMs) and these are expected to be discussed once the two sides re-engage in multiple formats. The revival of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra could be among the issues that will come up when discussions between the two sides resume, he said.

Modi and Xi briefly reviewed regional and international developments and agreed to maintain close communication on these issues. They also discussed the potential for India and China to enhance cooperation on the Brics platform and Modi assured Xi of India’s support for China’s presidency of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in 2025.