‘China values Modi’s statements’: Beijing hails India's independent foreign policy after PM-Xi meeting at BRICS

Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Chinese President Xi Jinping during their bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in New Delhi that India follows an independent foreign policy, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said on Monday, adding that Beijing values PM Modi’s remarks.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and China's President Xi Jinping shake hands during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the 18th BRICS Summit at the Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi. (AFP)The statement from China came two days after Modi and Xi met for bilateral talks and welcomed “steady progress” in relations between the two countries.

This was also Xi's first visit to India in seven years. ALSO READ | India-Russia-China bonhomie on display at BRICS: What the Modi-Xi-Putin group photos reveal Jiakun said the "most important consensus" from the meeting was that “China and India should be partners”, according to a release by China’s ministry of foreign affairs.

Beijing also welcomed Modi’s remarks on India’s strategic autonomy. “Prime Minister Modi said that India has an independent foreign policy, developing relations with China is not affected by any third party and that it will not allow any force to engage in anti-China activities on its territory.

China values Prime Minister Modi’s statements,” the statement said. Xi said that while China and India have different national realities, the two countries should draw on each other’s strengths and support each other’s development, Guo said.

"To promote the steady and sustained development of China-India relations, both sides need to calibrate the direction with an objective and rational strategic perception," he said. The Chinese official said the two countries should also address their differences through "mutual respect and mutual understanding" while deepening cooperation.

India said on Saturday that maintaining peace and tranquillity in the border areas is the “essential basis” for improving ties with China, according to a statement from the ministry of external affairs. PM Modi also said both sides should “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”, the ministry said.

“Differences should not become disputes. Prime Minister [Modi] highlighted that both sides must be guided by three mutuals – mutual respect, mutual sensitivity and mutual interest,” the readout said. The meeting took place against the backdrop of fresh tensions between Indian and Chinese troops in the remote Taksing region of Arunachal Pradesh, with reports of face-offs between the troops in July and August, HT reported earlier.

India and China reached an understanding in October 2024 to disengage troops from “friction points” in the Ladakh sector of the Line of Actual Control (LAC). This brought an end to a standoff that had continued for more than four years and had pushed bilateral ties to their lowest point in six decades.

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