Xi Jinping and Narendra Modi meet, 2 days after a China-India border deal
China and India should manage their differences properly, Chinese President Xi Jinping told Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, in their first meeting since the bilateral relationship was badly strained by a deadly border clash four years ago.
"It is important for both sides to have more communication and cooperation, properly handle differences and disagreements, and facilitate each other's pursuit of development aspirations," Xi told Modi on the sidelines of the Brics summit in Kazan, Russia.
"It is also important for both sides to shoulder our international responsibilities, set an example for boosting the strength and unity of developing countries, and contribute to promoting multi-polarisation and democracy in international relations," he said.
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In a post on his X account after the meeting, Modi wrote that India-China relations were "important for the people of our countries, and for regional and global peace and stability".
"Mutual trust, mutual respect and mutual sensitivity will guide bilateral relations," he said.
Met President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Kazan BRICS Summit. India-China relations are important for the people of our countries, and for regional and global peace and stability. Mutual trust, mutual respect and mutual sensitivity will guide bilateral relations. pic.twitter.com/tXfudhAU4b
- Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 23, 2024
The meeting came two days after the announcement that China and India had reached an agreement on patrolling their shared Himalayan border, where the two sides had a deadly clash in June 2020, de-escalating a four-year military stand-off.
"The two leaders welcomed the agreement reached between the two sides through sustained dialogue over the last several weeks in diplomatic as well as military channels," Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said in a statement.
"PM Modi underscored the importance of not allowing differences on boundary-related matters to disturb peace and tranquillity on our borders.
"The two leaders noted that the special representatives on the India-China boundary question have a critical role to play in the resolution of the boundary question and for the maintenance of peace and tranquillity in the border areas."
Brics - the economic association named after the founding members Brazil, Russia, India and China plus South Africa - has been on an expansion path, with Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates joining the bloc this year.
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Xi and Modi last met in person in 2019, on the sidelines of another Brics summit in Brazil.
The two also met briefly at the 2022 Group of 20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, and the 2023 Brics summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, but did not hold formal talks during either event.
Xi skipped the G20 summit New Delhi hosted in 2023, which was seen as a signal that Beijing and New Delhi remained at loggerheads over the border issues.
The relationship between the world's two most populous nations turned sour after the worst border conflict in almost six decades on the unresolved Himalayan border on June 15, 2020.
At least four Chinese and 20 Indian soldiers were killed in the engagement in the Galwan Valley between India-controlled Ladakh and China-controlled Aksai Chin.
As heavy military forces were deployed to confront each other along the border, business and other exchanges were also affected for the past four years. In particular, New Delhi tightened its policies regarding Chinese investments.
This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2024 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
Copyright (c) 2024. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.