TIANJIN: India is committed to taking forward its ties with China based on mutual trust, respect and sensitivity, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Chinese President Xi Jinping as the two leaders held wide-ranging talks on Sunday to reset the bilateral relations. In his televised opening remarks, Modi said the welfare of 2.8 billion people is linked to cooperation between India and China. The talks between the two leaders on the margins of the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in this northern Chinese city came against the backdrop of turbulence triggered by the Trump administration’s tariff tussle. Modi landed here last evening from Japan in the second leg of his two-nation trip. It is the Indian prime minister’s first trip to China after the eastern Ladakh border row that began in May 2020. The prime minister held talks with the Chinese president in October last year in Russia’s Kazan, which took place days after India and China reached an understanding to end the standoff in eastern Ladakh. In his remarks, Modi noted that there is peace and stability along the border following last year’s disengagement process, adding that direct flights between the two countries are being resumed. The prime minister also made a mention of the resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra. There was consent between our Special Representatives on border management, he said. India and China have a framework called the Special Representatives on the boundary question to address issues relating to the border. “We are committed to take forward our cooperation based on mutual trust, respect and sensitivity,” Modi said. The prime minister also congratulated Xi on China’s successful presidency of the SCO. The specific outcomes of the Modi-Xi talks are not yet known. Ahead of his trip to Tianjin, Modi said it is important for India and China to work together to bring stability to the world economic order. In an interview with Japan’s The Yomiuri Shimbun, Modi said stable, predictable, and amicable bilateral relations between India and China can have a positive impact on regional and global peace and prosperity. “Given the current volatility in world economy, it is also important for India and China, as two major economies, to work together to bring stability to the world economic order,” PM Modi said in the interview published on Friday. Modi’s trip to China comes less than a fortnight after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited India. Following Wang’s wide-ranging talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, the two sides unveiled a series of measures for a “stable, cooperative and forward-looking” relationship. The measures included joint maintenance of peace along the contested frontier, reopening border trade and resuming direct flight services at the earliest. In the last few months, both sides have initiated a series of measures to reset their ties that came under severe strain following the deadly clashes between Indian and Chinese troops in Galwan Valley in June 2020. PTI
