Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday stressed “strategic and long-term” ties with India, while Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged cooperation with China. Xi and Modi met in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin ahead of the 25th meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
Noting that this year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and India, Xi said the two sides should “strengthen strategic communication and deepen mutual trust,” according to a statement from China’s Foreign Ministry.
Xi called on both sides to treat China-India relations from a “strategic and long-term perspective, further advance them through the Tianjin summit, and promote the sustainable, healthy and stable development of bilateral relations.”
Noting that Beijing and New Delhi should expand their bilateral exchanges and cooperation to achieve “mutual benefit” and “win-win results,” Xi urged both sides to maintain “harmonious coexistence.”
For his part, Modi has pledged to continue “engagement” with China, saying it is in the interest of the people of both countries.
“This will also pave the way for the well-being of all humanity. We are committed to advancing our relationship on the basis of mutual trust, respect and sensitivity,” Modi told Xi.
According to a statement from India’s Ministry of External Affairs, the leaders reaffirmed that the two nations are “partners, not rivals” and “noted with satisfaction the successful disengagement last year and the maintenance of peace and tranquility along the border areas since then.”
Both leaders “expressed their commitment to a just, reasonable and mutually acceptable resolution of the boundary issue, taking into account the political perspective of their overall bilateral relations and the long-term interests of the two peoples.”
New Delhi and Beijing have taken steps to normalize relations after tensions escalated in 2020 when deadly clashes along the disputed border in Jammu and Kashmir left 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers dead.
Modi arrived in China on Saturday, his first visit in seven years.
The two-day SCO summit from Sunday to Monday comes amid escalating geopolitical tensions, including the wars in the Gaza Strip and Ukraine, as well as international customs disputes.
Xi and Modi last met in October on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in the Russian city of Kazan.
Founded in 2001, the SCO is a political and security alliance made up of ten members: China, Russia, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Belarus.
In 2023, India’s exports to China were $18.1 billion, while imports from China totaled $125 billion.
