NEW DELHI — In a significant diplomatic encounter that underscored both the enduring importance and the lingering tensions in India-China relations, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met for close to 50 minutes on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in New Delhi. The meeting, the first between the two leaders in nearly seven years, carried heavy symbolic weight given the turbulent state of bilateral ties since the deadly Galwan Valley clash in June 2020.
Xi, who last visited India in October 2019, returned to New Delhi for the first time since the border confrontation that left eighteen Indian soldiers dead and marked the worst deterioration in decades-old diplomatic relations. The two leaders exchanged views on a range of issues, including the ongoing military disengagement along the Line of Actual Control, trade dynamics, and broader multilateral cooperation.
According to sources familiar with the discussions, both sides expressed a shared conviction that differences between the two Asian giants should not be allowed to escalate into full-blown disputes. They agreed that the relationship, despite its challenges, must be viewed through a long-term lens and nurtured rather than permitted to fray further.
Prime Minister Modi reportedly stressed that bilateral ties should rest on three guiding principles: mutual respect, sensitivity to each other's core concerns, and a commitment to mutually beneficial engagement. Analysts noted that these principles, while diplomatically phrased, reflect India's longstanding insistence that any rapprochement with China must be predicated on a credible resolution of the border standoff and a demonstration of good faith by Beijing.
The timing of the meeting was itself noteworthy. Coming so soon after the Galwan clash, when India had recalibrated its entire approach to engagement with China — suspending several bilateral mechanisms, tightening investment norms, and deepening strategic partnerships with the United States and Quad allies — Xi's presence in New Delhi signaled a cautious but deliberate effort from both sides to prevent the relationship from sliding into irreparable breakdown.
Trade figures published in subsequent reports showed that despite the diplomatic freeze, bilateral trade between India and China actually expanded significantly in the years following the Galwan confrontation, with India's imports from China roughly doubling. This economic interdependence has been cited by some observers as both a stabilizing factor and a source of vulnerability for New Delhi, which continues to grapple with the strategic implications of its trade dependency on a rival it cannot afford to fully decouple from.
Diplomatic watchers said the meeting concluded on a measured note, with both sides indicating willingness to maintain dialogue through existing channels even as substantive disputes over the border remain unresolved.
