New Delhi: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in a meeting with Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri Monday said that the two countries should meet “halfway” and “explore more substantive measures” as it was in both their “fundamental interests” to do so. Misri is on a two-day visit to Beijing for the Foreign Secretary-Vice Minister talks mechanism.
“The two sides should seize the opportunity, meet each other halfway, explore more substantive measures, and commit to mutual understanding, mutual support, and mutual achievement, rather than mutual suspicion, mutual alienation, and mutual consumption,” a readout from the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
“The improvement and development of China-India relations is fully in line with the fundamental interests of the two countries and their peoples.”
During the meeting, Misri offered Indian support for China’s work as the chair of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) this year, the readout added. He also conveyed New Delhi’s willingness to “celebrate the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations” between the two countries.
“Vikram Misri said that India and China have conducted a series of beneficial dialogues and communications in accordance with the consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries in Kazan, properly managed and resolved differences, and promoted the restart of practical cooperation in various fields,” said the Chinese readout.
In October 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping met on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Russia in the first bilateral meeting in almost five years.
The Indian foreign secretary kicked off his 26-27 January visit with a meeting with Liu Jianchao, head of the international department of the Communist Party of China’s Central Committee.
He was set to hold talks with China’s Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Sun Weidong later Monday. Sun was Beijing’s envoy to India between 2019 and 2022.
Series of high-level talks since disengagement
Misri’s visit to China comes as a series of high-level dialogues have been held between the two countries since the 21 October 2024 agreement on disengagement at friction points across the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
Ties had been strained between the two countries since forces from the two sides clashed in the Galwan Valley in the summer of 2020. The disengagement agreement, announced by Misri, paved the way for the Modi-Xi meeting in Kazan.
After the bilateral meeting, the two leaders directed the two special representatives on the India-China boundary question—Indian National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval and China’s Wang Yi—to meet at an “early” date. That meeting was held in Beijing in December.
Apart from talks at the special representatives level, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar also met Wang Yi on the margins of the G20 Leaders’ Summit in the Brazilian city of Rio De Janeiro in November 2024.
“Wang Yi said that since the meeting between President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Modi in Kazan last year, the two sides have earnestly implemented the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, carried out positive interactions at all levels, and accelerated the process of improving China-India relations,” said the Chinese readout Monday further added.
Practical issues remain
While there are signs of a thaw at the political level, a number of practical issues remain. New Delhi has been urging Beijing to allow the resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, which has remained suspended since 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, Beijing has been calling for the resumption of direct flights between India and China as well as for visas to be issued to Chinese nationals. Introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic, India maintained the suspension of direct flights between the two countries.
In December, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that the restoration of all parts of bilateral ties was a “step-by-step process”.
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)
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