BRICS summit: India and China engage in talks to ease tensions
According to international observers, this is a pragmatic truce among long-term rivals. Diplomats from the two countries will resume meetings to manage the border dispute in Ladakh. For India’s Modi, talks with everyone is an opportunity to show himself as a credible leader of the global South.
Kazan (AsiaNews/Agencies) – For the first time in almost five years, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held a formal meeting yesterday on the sidelines of the BRICS summit that ended today in Kazan, Russia.
This tête-à-tête had been expected following an agreement on patrolling of the so-called Line of Actual Control (LAC), the 3,000-kilometre border that divides the two countries in the disputed Ladakh region.
Bilateral relations were frozen after 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers died during fighting on the border in 2020, halting diplomatic meetings and trade.
Yesterday's meeting between Modi and Xi marks the first step towards a different approach to relations, even if experts believe it is probably only a pragmatic truce in a long-term rivalry.
“Prime Minister Modi underscored the importance of not allowing differences on boundary-related matters to disturb peace and tranquillity on our borders,” said Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, at a press conference.
The two leaders agreed on the "critical role" played by the " Special Representatives on the India-China boundary question,” a role fulfilled by National Security Adviser Ajit Doval for India, and Foreign Minister Wang Yi for China.
“The two leaders [. . . ] were of the view that stable bilateral relations between India and China, the two largest nations on Earth, will have a positive impact on regional and global peace and prosperity,” added the Foreign Secretary, stressing, to this end, the need to turn “towards the path of normalization” of their relations.
Responding to a question about Russia’s role in mediating between the two neighbours, Foreign Secretary Misri replied: "We are in Kazan, which is in Russia. And we thank Russia for providing the venue."
Chinese media published a similar statement. “The two sides agreed on holding talks between their foreign ministers and officials at various levels to bring the relationship back to sound and steady development,” wrote the Xinhua News Agency.
For the past four years, Xi and Modi had met on the sidelines of major multilateral events, but last year the Chinese president did not attend the G20 in New Delhi.
After border clashes in Ladakh, India intensified controls on Chinese investments, blocked direct civilian flights between the two countries (but maintained commercial ones), and hindered the issuance of visas to Chinese citizens.
Some observers note China needs to ease geopolitical tensions to cope with an economy that continues to stagnate. But India needs China more for its industrial sector.
In 2020, Indian exports to China stood at US$ 16.61 billion and remained stable at US$ 16.65 billion last year. Conversely, imports from China jumped from US$ 65.26 billion in 2020 to US$ 101.74 billion last fiscal year.
India maintains close ties with Russia (from whom it buys oil at discounted prices despite international sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine), as well as its Western allies in the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QUAD), a forum that includes the United States, Australia, and Japan to counter Chinese influence in the Indo-Pacific region.
Showing openness to dialogue with China, a historic rival, helps Modi style himself as a credible leader of the global South.
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08/09/2020 17:11
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