India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and China’s President Xi Jinping held a crucial meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Johannesburg, South Africa. Leaders from Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa discussed various international issues. During this meeting, both leaders agreed to intensify their efforts to de-escalate tensions along their disputed border, a source from India’s foreign ministry confirmed.
Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra, speaking to Indian reporters, stated that Modi had raised India’s concerns regarding the unresolved border issues during an impromptu meeting with President Xi. This move is significant in the backdrop of a prolonged standoff between Indian and Chinese troops in the Ladakh region. It has persisted for three years and resulted in a deadly clash three years ago that claimed the lives of 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese.
China-India Relations at the Forefront
Specific details about the conversation between the two leaders were not disclosed by Kwatra. The Chinese embassy in New Delhi later released a statement on Twitter. The statement emphasized President Xi’s belief that improving China-India relations was in the interest of both nations and was conducive to global and regional peace, stability, and development. The statement further urged both sides to consider the overall interests of their bilateral relationship. Moreover, to handle the border issue in a way that jointly safeguards peace and tranquillity in the border region.
Efforts to stabilize the situation had been underway, as Indian and Chinese military commanders had met the week before. The Line of Actual Control serves as the de facto border. Separating Chinese and Indian-controlled territories from Ladakh in the west to Arunachal Pradesh in the east, which China claims entirely.
Historically, India and China have experienced tensions over their border, with a war fought in 1962. China asserts claims to around 90,000 square kilometres of territory in India’s northeast, including Arunachal Pradesh, which has a predominantly Buddhist population. Conversely, India maintains that China occupies 38,000 square kilometres of its territory in the Aksai Chin Plateau. An area that India considers part of Ladakh, where the ongoing border standoff has been concentrated.
The meeting between Modi and Xi signals a willingness from both sides to address their long-standing border disputes and de-escalate the situation, with the potential for improved relations on the horizon.