India and China on Sunday saw for themselves a greater role in stabilising world trade and underscored the importance of the two countries cooperating as major world economies in the face of high global economic uncertainty.
This was a common thread in the readouts from both capitals on the bilateral engagement between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Tianjin, indicating the chaos created by the Trump tariffs was a consideration.
Although this was their second bilateral engagement in less than a year, marking a thaw of the tensions triggered by the border “transgressions” in Ladakh that provoked the Galwan clash of June 2020, Donald Trump’s actions have opened up a new dynamic.
Apart from his punishing tariffs on India, there are reports in the American media that the US President might not be attending the Quad Summit, to be hosted by India later this year.
The Quad grouping of Australia, India, Japan and the US was essentially resurrected during the first Trump administration to counter the growing Chinese influence in the Indo-Pacific.
“On economic and trade relations, they recognised the role of their two economies to stabilise world trade,” the Indian readout on the Xi-Modi meeting said.
“They underlined the need to proceed from a political and strategic direction to expand bilateral trade and investment ties and reduce trade deficit.”
The Chinese readout said: “Amid high global economic uncertainty, strengthened cooperation between India and China, as major global economies, is crucial.”
Asked if the Trump tariffs were discussed at the meeting, foreign secretary Vikram Misri said: “The two leaders discussed the international economic situation. They recognised the challenges that flow as a result of what we see happening around us. The focus of the discussion, I would say, remained in the bilateral domain.”
Misri added: “Of course, they recognised what’s happening on the international plane and the challenges it creates but they tried to see how to leverage that for building greater understanding between themselves and how to take forward the economic and commercial relationship between India and China in the midst of these evolving challenges.”
Both countries stressed the need for them to view their relationship on its own merits and not through the prism of a third country.
“Prime Minister noted that India and China both pursue strategic autonomy, and their relations should not be seen through a third country lens,” the external affairs ministry readout said.
The Chinese readout said both nations agreed to adhere to strategic autonomy and independent diplomacy, ensuring their relations were not influenced by third parties.
According to India, Modi and Xi reaffirmed that the two countries were development partners and not rivals, and that their differences should not turn into disputes.
A stable relationship and cooperation between India and China and their 2.8 billion people on the basis of mutual respect, mutual interest and mutual sensitivity are necessary for the two countries’ growth and development, as well as for a multipolar world and a multipolar Asia, India said.
As always, the Chinese readout made no mention of a multipolar Asia, given that Beijing sees itself as a regional power — a position it’s not keen on sharing with any other country.
India repeated its formulation of a multipolar Asia in keeping with its aspiration to be recognised as a regional power.
Modi also underlined the importance of peace and tranquillity in the border areas for the continued development of bilateral relations.
“The two leaders noted with satisfaction the successful disengagement last year and the maintenance of peace and tranquillity along the border areas since then,” the 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.”
Beijing’s staple advocacy of a “dragon-elephant dance” again found mention in its readout, which said it was “the right choice for both sides”.
Even through the years of hostility since Galwan, the Chinese would repeatedly make out a case for the “dragon-elephant dance”, insisting that the border dispute should not be allowed to eclipse the other aspects of the relationship.
During the four years of freeze in India-China relations, New Delhi refused to subscribe to this formulation, maintaining that normalcy cannot be restored to the relationship without disengagement at the friction points.
The disengagement at Depsang and Demchok on October 21 last year set the stage for the Modi-Xi meeting in Kazan, Russia, on the sidelines of the Brics summit. Following this, it was decided that efforts would be made to bring the relationship back on track.
Modi and Xi noted the need to strengthen people-to-people ties through direct flights and visa facilitation, building on the resumption of the Kailash Manasarovar Yatra and tourist visas, the Indian readout said.
On whether a timeline had been finalised for the resumption of direct flights between the two countries considering that discussions had been on for over six months, Misri replied that a broad agreement had been reached on restarting direct flights.
He added that just last week, there was another round of discussions between the civil aviation ministries in Beijing.
“What remains are certain operational issues — air services agreement, scheduling calendar etc…. These will be addressed in the coming few weeks and we should
see a resumption of direct flights soon.”
In a social media post, Modi described his talks with Xi as “fruitful”.
“We reviewed the positive momentum in India-China relations since our last meeting in Kazan. We agreed on the importance of maintaining peace and tranquility in border areas and reaffirmed our commitment to cooperation based on mutual respect, mutual interest and mutual sensitivity,” he said.
Modi, who arrived in China on Saturday evening after a gap of seven years, expressed support for China’s presidency of the SCO and the summit in Tianjin. He invited Xi to the Brics summit that India will be hosting in 2026.
Xi thanked Modi for the invitation and offered China’s support to India’s Brics presidency, the external affairs ministry said.
Modi also had a meeting with Cai Qi, member of the standing committee of the politburo of the Communist Party of China.
Additional reporting by PTI