China ties have made steady progress, looking forward to meeting Xi, says PM

NEW DELHI: The recent Sino-Indian detente seemed set for a significant step forward with PM Narendra Modi saying Tuesday that bilateral ties have made "positive and steady" progress guided by respect for each other's interests and sensitivities, and accepting President Xi Jinping's official invitation to visit China for the SCO summit.

The invitation along with a message from Xi was delivered to Modi by Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi, who called on the PM after his meeting with NSA Ajit Doval for the Special Representatives' talks on the boundary question. Recalling his meeting with Xi in Kazan in Oct, which opened the doors for normalisation of the relationship after an intense military standoff, Modi said he was looking forward to meeting the Chinese president on the margins of Eurasian bl-oc summit in Tianjin on Sept 1.


"Stable, predictable, constructive ties between India and China will contribute significantly to regional as well as global peace and prosperity," said Modi in a post on X after the meeting with Wang.

According to an Indian readout, Modi also emphasised the importance of maintaining peace on the border, and reiterated India's commitment to a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable resolution of the boundary question. This was underlined by Doval in his meeting with Wang in which they discussed issues related to de-escalation, delimitation and boundary affairs. Wang also shared with the PM his positive assessment about his meetings with both Doval and external affairs minister S Jaishankar, saying there was "new consensus" on border management, maintenance of peace and on starting boundary delimitation talks..

Doval and Jaishankar strongly raised the need to fight terrorism in all its forms, underscoring that it was one of the original objectives of SCO. According to MEA, Wang, who will visit Pakistan this week, concurred that countering terrorism should be given highest priority.

"The PM welcomed the steady and positive progress in bilateral ties since his meeting with President Xi in Kazan last year, guided by mutual respect, mutual interest and mutual sensitivity, including the resumption of the Kailash Manasarovar Yatra," said the Indian govt, adding Modi thanked Xi for the invitation and expressed support for China's presidency of the SCO Summit.

Modi will arrive in Tianjin on Aug 31 for what will be his first visit to China in over seven years. He had last visited China in 2018, again for the SCO summit. SCO has been an important forum for India to assert its strategic autonomy but his visit on this occasion has evoked more than just a cursory interest, as it comes in the middle of what many see as the worst phase in India's ties with the US in decades.

While the Trump administration seems to have made peace with Moscow, it continues to target India for its energy imports from Russia, accusing the Indian govt of funding Vladimir Putin's war. Trump's trade adviser Peter Navarro accused India of "now cozying up" to both China and Russia, as he made his point about the risks involved in transferring cutting-edge US military technology to India.

In his meeting with Wang, Doval hailed new energy and momentum in ties, saying with tranquillity in border areas, there had been more substantive engagement. Wang too said this year, the border situation had remained stable and was improving.