Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday stressed India’s resolve to deepen ties with China on the principles of mutual trust, respect, and sensitivity while interacting with President Xi Jinping, while on the margins of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Tianjin. This is Modi’s first visit to China in seven years and his second meeting with Xi since October last year, when the two sides reached an understanding to withdraw their forces along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
The military stand-off, which had set in since April-May 2020, had pushed bilateral ties to the bottom of the trough since the 1962 war. However, last year’s disengagement between the two sides has created what Prime Minister Manmohan Singh referred to as “an atmosphere of peace and stability.” He felt that a consensus reached by the Special Representatives of the two countries on border management was a stepping stone to further improvement of relations.
“Last year, we had serious conversations in Kazan, and our relations acquired a positive vector. After the disengagement, the border areas are once again at peace. Now, we are starting to proceed on the basis of trust, respect and sensitivity,” Modi said, addressing Xi in Hindi at the outset of his meetings with him.
Mentioning the slow resurgence of bilateral engagement, Modi said that the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra has been reopened and India and China are expected to start direct flights again. He emphasised that closer cooperation is in the interest of the 2.8 billion people of both countries and is also for the well-being of humankind.
The hour-long meeting was keenly observed against the backdrop of strained India-US trade ties following President Donald Trump’s move to double tariffs on Indian imports and a 25% punitive levy on Russian oil imports.
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