NEW DELHI: Chinese President Xi Jinping told Prime Minister Narendra Modi the current momentum in bilateral ties anchored in resumption of institutional exchanges, expanding cooperation agenda and increasing trade is hard-won and deserves to be cherished.The two sides look to reinforce the thaw in relationship with another meeting between the leaders.While PM Modi joined Xi in welcoming the “steady progress” in bilateral relations, he underlined India’s position that peace and tranquillity in border areas will act as an essential basis for continued development of the relationship.The leaders met on the margins of Brics summit for what was their third bilateral meeting in two years, starting with Kazan in 2024 and Tianjin last year.India’s readout skips mention of Xi’s ‘not rivals’ formulationIn their 40-minute meeting, the first on Indian soil in seven years, Modi and Xi agreed that the two countries should take a strategic and long-term perspective of their ties and differences should not cause disputes.Xi reiterated India and China are partners, not rivals, but the Indian readout on this occasion, unlike the Tianjin statement by India last year, skipped mention of that formulation.Modi also underlined the need for both sides to observe existing agreements and understandings on border-related issues. An Indian readout said they expressed commitment to a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable resolution of the boundary question proceeding from the political perspective of their overall bilateral relations and the long-term interests of the two peoples.The PM also raised the issue of India’s trade deficit with China and the need for supply chain predictability. According to the Indian side, they underlined the need to address each other’s concerns, including structural trade imbalance and supply chain issues, and facilitation of meaningful and predictable market access.Since their meeting in Kazan in 2024, which marked the end of the eastern Ladakh border standoff, three rounds of Special Representatives talks on the boundary question have taken place. In the last meeting, they agreed to advance negotiations for an early and substantial harvest of boundary delimitation and border management.Modi and Xi noted the progress in people-to-people ties and underscored the need to further promote cultural exchanges, business linkages and greater mobility between the two countries, said the Indian side. “The PM highlighted that both sides must be guided by three mutuals — mutual respect, mutual sensitivity and mutual interest,” said the readout, adding that they agreed to expand common ground on regional and global issues and in addressing challenges.In his remarks, Xi proposed a more rational strategic assessment of the relationship looking forward, win-win cooperation, mutual respect and understanding and inclusive multilateral cooperation.A Chinese readout of the meeting quoted Modi as saying that India follows an independent foreign policy and its ties with Beijing were not influenced by any third country. It also said that Modi told Xi India’s position on Taiwan and Tibet-related issues has not changed and it will not allow anyone to carry out anti-China activities.
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Chinese foreign ministry had attributed the same remark to external affairs minister S Jaishankar after his meeting with counterpart Wang Yi in July this year. MEA had responded by saying that while India had never violated China’s sovereignty, China had been in illegal occupation of Indian territory in J&K and Ladakh since 1963.
