Border peace essential for bilateral relations, PM Modi tells Xi on BRICS sidelines

Two years after their meeting in Russia’s Kazan led to the disengagement of troops along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh after a tense military standoff that began 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping said Saturday that “differences should not become disputes” and committed themselves to “a fair, reasonable, and mutually acceptable resolution of the boundary question”.

Holding bilateral talks in New Delhi on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit – it was their first meeting in India in seven years amid efforts to restore relations that plummeted after the Chinese incursions six years ago – Modi and Xi said “both countries should take a strategic and long term perspective of their ties”.

These “three mutuals” have been part of Delhi’s redlines over the last five years. According to the MEA statement, Modi said “peace and tranquility in the border areas remains an essential basis for the continued development of bilateral relations”.

He underlined the need for both sides to observe existing agreements and understandings on border related issues. “The two leaders expressed commitment to a fair, reasonable, and mutually acceptable resolution of the boundary question proceeding from the political perspective of their overall bilateral relations and the long-term interests of the two peoples,” it stated.

Last month, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who are the Special Representatives of their countries for the boundary talks, met in Beijing. The meeting resulted in eight outcomes and consensus including the decision to advance discussions on “an early and substantial harvest” of boundary delimitation and border management.

The SRs also agreed on two new border military hotlines in the eastern and middle sectors, two new meeting points for military commander-level meetings, and on holding the trans-border river meeting. On Saturday, Modi and Xi took note of the “progress in people-to-people ties and underscored the need to further promote cultural exchanges, business linkages and greater mobility” between the two countries.

“On economic and trade relations, they underlined the need to address each other’s concerns, including structural trade imbalance and supply chain issues, and facilitation of meaningful and predictable market access,” the statement said.

“The two leaders agreed that both sides must continue to expand common ground on regional and global issues, and in addressing challenges,” it stated. Modi “appreciated China’s support for India’s BRICS chairship and its contributions towards the success of the BRICS Summit”.

This meeting should give new impetus to efforts for restoration of ties. Xi last visited India in October 2019 when he travelled to Mamallapuram near Chennai for the second informal bilateral summit of leaders. Xi’s participation in the BRICS summit is an important signal to India – he had skipped the G20 summit at the Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi three years ago amid strained ties.

Following the disengagement of troops along the LAC in eastern Ladakh in November 2024, the two countries have been taking incremental steps to stabilise ties: resumption of direct flights, easing of visa restrictions, revival of the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage and easing of curbs on Chinese investments.

But pressing issues remain, including visa denials and restrictions on Indian businesses, challenges in the sharing of trans-boundary river data, and the active collusion of China and Pakistan during the India-Pakistan hostilities that followed Operation Sindoor in May 2025.

Ahead of Xi’s arrival in New Delhi, Beijing said the two countries would work to “handle the bilateral relations from a strategic height and long-term perspective” and “be friends” and “partners helping each other succeed”.

Shubhajit Roy, Diplomatic Editor at The Indian Express, has been a journalist for more than 27 years now. Roy joined The Indian Express in October 2003 and has been reporting and writing explainers and analysis on foreign affairs for about 19 years now.

Based in Delhi, he has also led the National government and political bureau at The Indian Express in Delhi — a team of reporters who cover the national government and politics for the newspaper. He has got the Ramnath Goenka Journalism award for Excellence in Journalism ‘2016.

He got this award for his coverage of the Holey Bakery attack in Dhaka and its aftermath. He won the Ramnath Goenka Journalism award, 2023, for the second time for his reporting of the Oct 7 attacks on Israel and the war in Gaza.

He also got the IIMCAA Award for the Journalist of the Year, 2022, (Jury’s special mention) for his coverage of the fall of Kabul in August 2021 — he was one of the few Indian journalists in Kabul and the only mainstream newspaper to have covered the Taliban’s capture of power in mid-August, 2021.

... Read More Divya A reports on travel, tourism, culture and social issues - not necessarily in that order - for The Indian Express. She's been a journalist for over a decade now, working with Khaleej Times and The Times of India, before settling down at Express.

Besides writing/ editing news reports, she indulges her pen to write short stories. As Sanskriti Prabha Dutt Fellow for Excellence in Journalism, she is researching on the lives of the children of sex workers in India. ...

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