New Delhi: Peace and tranquility at the borders is an “insurance policy” for ties between India and China, and this message was conveyed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to President Xi Jinping during their bilateral meeting, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said Sunday.
“From the very beginning, we have maintained, and at various levels we have made it clear, that the situation on the boundary will inevitably have some impact on bilateral relations. And that is precisely why the most important kind of ‘insurance policy’ for our bilateral ties is to maintain peace and tranquility on the boundary. So today, the Prime Minister himself also conveyed this very clearly to President Xi, and we will continue to maintain this position,” Misri said at a special briefing on Modi’s visit to China.
The PM is in the Chinese city of Tianjin to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Heads of States summit on 31 August and 1 September. Around mid-day Sunday, Modi held a 45-odd minute bilateral meeting with Xi. Later in the day, he also held a bilateral meeting with Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, Chairman of the State Security and Peace Commission of Myanmar.
Modi’s meeting with Xi comes as ties between India and China have seen a thaw in recent months, even as New Delhi’s ties with Washington D.C. have hit a rough patch. The PM told the Chinese President during the meeting that stability created across the Line of Actual Control (LAC) is important as the interests of “2.8 billion people” is linked to cooperation between India and China.
This is Modi’s first visit to China in seven years. The diplomatic relationship cratered following the border tensions and military clashes at Galwan in 2020. However, New Delhi and Beijing were able to reach an agreement for the disengagement at the friction points across the LAC in October 2024, which paved the way for resumption of diplomatic overtures.
“The formulation of the two countries being partners, not rivals, or as is put somewhat differently, of being opportunities for each other and not challenges, this is the framing of the relationship. Both leaders have done this framing of the relationship. This is what is desired. And this is what they see as the future of the relationship as well,” Misri explained to a query over the continued military deployments by both countries in Eastern Ladakh.
“The troops at the border, which are a reality, though I think that is again a situation that has started evolving over the course of the last year as the situation at the borders has become more … or is moving towards normalisation. That is something that has come about as a result of actions that have been taken at a particular point in time. And that’s obviously led to a certain crisis. And it is that crisis that we have dealt with, or attempted to deal with over the course of the last five, five and a half years.”
Talks have progressed since October 2024, with at least two special representative (SR)-level talks being held in Beijing and New Delhi, respectively. The last SR-level talks were held in New Delhi earlier this month, with Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval meeting with his counterpart Wang Yi, the Foreign Minister of China.
The two SRs had agreed to work towards a solution to the long-standing boundary question under the aegis of the 2005 bilateral agreement signed on this matter. Furthermore, at the Beijing SR-level talks last year, a few confidence building measures were agreed.
In the last year, China has resumed the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra for Indian pilgrims, while India has started issuing tourist visas to Chinese nationals since July 2025. Work on the resumption of direct passenger air travel has begun, with Misri highlighting that there exists a broad consensus on this matter, with only operational details left to work out.
The thaw comes as India and the US continue to grapple over a bilateral trade deal. US President Donald Trump has imposed 50 percent tariffs on Indian goods which came into effect on 27 August. The US is India’s largest export market, with merchandise exports touching $86 billion in the last year.
Modi is also set to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin Monday after attending the summit, following which he will depart to India, Misri announced.
(Edited by Tony Rai)