“If there is to be an Asian century and a functioning world order with a multi-polar Asia at its heart,” India China cooperation is essential, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said at a briefing in Tianjin, summing up the Modi-Xi Jinping meeting earlier on Sunday.
President Xi made four suggestions, to strengthen strategic communication and deepen mutual trust; to expand cooperation for mutual benefit and win win results; to accommodate each other’s concerns; and to push multilateral cooperation to safeguard mutual interests.
Prime Minister Modi has responded positively to these suggestions, Misri said, underscoring progress on the boundary dispute with both leaders taking note of the “successful disengagement” last year and the maintenance of peace and tranquility in the border regions since then.
Modi emphasised that peace and tranquility was essential for the smooth progress of bilateral relations and endorsed the use of existing border mechanisms.
Misri confirmed that the special representatives on the border, namely NSA Ajit Doval and his Chinese counterpart Foreign Minister Wang Yi had also met and reviewed their last meeting about two weeks ago and the decisions taken. They were unanimous in their expectation of a fair and reasonable settlement on the boundary dispute.
As for troops on the border, “that is a reality but the situation on the border is moving towards normalisation and in the long and medium term, both leaders agreed that the future we should aspire to is one of partnership and not rivalry.”
There was agreement on cooperation on trans-border rivers and fighting terrorism.
“Cross border terrorism was mentioned by the prime minister as a priority. He underlined the fact that this undermines both India and China and it’s important we extend understanding and extend support to each other. We have received the understanding and cooperation of China in the context of the current SCO summit,” Misri said.
There was recognition of the role the Indian Chinese economies can play in the context of the world and recognition of the need to reduce India’s budget deficit.
Misri confirmed the “large and ongoing trade deficit”, this has been a matter of discussion over several years. In the current context as well, this discussion started even when Wang Yi was in Delhi and the issue was raised during meetings with Dr Jaishankar.
“This is going on at many levels and we will have to see how it evolves going forward,” he said.
There was broad recognition of what is going on in the international plane with respect to Trump’s tariffs but the focus was on the bilateral.
On resumption of direct flights, Misri said a civil aviation delegation from India was in China recently. Technical level talks have been held, at a broad level a consensus has been reached on starting direct flights, what remains are certain operational issues relating to air services agreement, scheduling, calendar and these will be resolved in the coming weeks.
Modi had a meeting with Cai Chi who holds several responsible posts in the Chinese government. Modi sought his involvement to realise the consensus reached between the two leaders.
Modi also had a bilateral with Myanmar’s Sr Gen Min Aung Hlaing, they had met at the Bimstec summit in Thailand earlier this year. He underlined the development partnership and sought his support for connectivity projects India is involved in. He called for dialogue in Myanmar to bring peace.
Modi will have a bilateral with President Putin on Monday before he departs for India.
Thirty eight years in journalism, widely travelled, history buff with a preference for Old Monk Rum. Current interest/focus spans China, Technology and Trade. Recent reads: Steven Colls Directorate S and Alexander Frater's Chasing the Monsoon. Netflix/Prime video junkie. Loves animal videos on Facebook. Reluctant tweeter.
