BEIJING – China said improving ties with India is in the interest of both countries, and the two sides have taken steps to steadily stabilise relations after a meeting between President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2024.
“The improvement of Sino-Indian relations is a common interest for both countries, as well as the result of joint efforts by both sides,” China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Aug 29 in a written reply to questions.
There was no “secret diplomacy” between the two countries, only “normal communication and interaction”.
Bloomberg News reported on Aug 28 that Beijing made a quiet outreach to New Delhi in March to test the waters on improving ties.
Mr Xi wrote a letter to his Indian counterpart Droupadi Murmu expressing concern about any US deals that would harm China’s interests, an official in New Delhi familiar with the matter said.
Responding to a question about the letter, the spokesman’s office of China’s Foreign Ministry said “as far as I learnt, the content of the so-called letter you mentioned doesn’t exist at all”.
The ministry said Mr Xi’s
meeting with Mr Modi in Kazan
, Russia in October 2024 prompted a restart in relations.
“The competent authorities of China and India have earnestly implemented the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, promoted the resumption of institutional dialogue and conducted normal exchanges,” it addedd.
The rapprochement between Beijing and New Delhi has accelerated since then, with the two sides taking steps to end a border standoff and Mr Modi making his first trip to China in seven years this weekend.
Both countries have been stung by President Donald Trump’s trade war, with India this week
slapped with 50 per cent tariffs
on its exports to the US.
“China stands ready to work with India to view and handle China-India relations from a strategic and long-term perspective,” the country’s Foreign Ministry said in its statement.
Mr Modi is expected to hold a bilateral meeting with Mr Xi on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), a regional economic and security summit, taking place in Tianjin on Aug 31 to Sept 1.
The Indian prime minister said he “remains committed to working with the SCO members to address shared challenges and deepen regional cooperation”, according to a statement on Aug 28.
He is also scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the SCO summit.
In an editorial on Aug 29, state-run tabloid Global Times said the warming of ties between the two nations made strategic and economic sense and was related to “profound changes in the global geopolitical landscape”.
“Today, as the ‘twin engines’ of Asia’s economic growth, key representatives of the Global South, and members of the SCO, Brics, and the G-20, China and India share a mission to push the international order toward greater democracy and fairness,” the newspaper said. BLOOMBERG
