PM Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan
Credit: Reuters Photo
New Delhi: India and China are development partners, and not rivals, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping agreed on Sunday, even as the two nations continued to have large numbers of soldiers deployed on both sides of the disputed boundary in the Himalayas.
Modi and Xi met in Tianjin in northern China but refrained from discussing the issue of restarting patrolling by the Indian Army in the multiple buffer zones created along the Line of Actual Control over the past few years to resolve the stand-off caused by the aggressive moves by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army in eastern Ladakh in April-May 2020.
“After the disengagement at the border, an atmosphere of peace and stability is now in place,” PM Modi told Xi.
He underlined the importance of peace and tranquillity in the border areas for the continued development of bilateral relations. Xi, however, sought to de-link the boundary dispute from the other aspects of the relations between the two neighbours.
China and India “should work together to maintain peace and tranquillity in the border areas and not let the border issue define the overall relationship,” Xi told Modi during the bilateral meeting ahead of the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, a 10-member bloc, led by China and Russia and often perceived as a counterweight to NATO.
As the two leaders met amid the trade turmoil caused by United States President Donald Trump’s tariff tirades, they recognised the role of the Indian and Chinese economies in stabilising global commerce. They agreed to expand common ground on the issue of fair trade and terrorism in the multilateral platforms.
India and China both pursue strategic autonomy, and their relations should not be seen through a third country lens, Modi told Xi.
The Prime Minister noted that India-China cooperation was linked to the interests of 2.8 billion people in the two countries, and friendly ties between the two would also pave the way for the welfare of all humanity.
“We must jointly demonstrate historical responsibility, uphold multilateralism, strengthen communication and cooperation on major international and regional issues, defend international fairness and justice, work together to promote a multipolar world and the democratisation of international relations, and make due contributions to maintaining peace and prosperity in the world, including in Asia,” said the Chinese President.
Modi responded positively to the suggestions from Xi, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri later told journalists in Tianjin.
The two leaders had earlier met on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Kazan in Russia, on October 23, 2024, and endorsed a deal the Indian Army and the Chinese PLA had reached two days back on patrolling in Depsang and Demchok as the end of the four-and-a-half-year-long military stand-off along the LAC in eastern Ladakh.
The two sides had earlier completed the ‘disengagement’ – mutual withdrawal of frontline troops – process in other face-off points, like Galwan Valley, northern and southern banks of Pangong Tso, Gogra and Hot Springs areas, albeit after India agreed with China to create a ‘buffer zone’ in each case. A moratorium on patrolling had been put in place in the buffer zones, which had been created within the areas claimed by India along its disputed boundary with China.
Though the stand-off ended in October 2024, the two sides have not yet discussed restarting patrolling in the buffer zones. The Indian Army had earlier regularly patrolled the places which had later been placed in the buffer zones. The Chinese PLA’s aggressive moves in April-May 2020, however, had disrupted the Indian Army’s patrolling patterns, leading to the stand-off.
Modi and Xi, on Sunday, did not touch upon the issue of restarting patrolling by the Indian Army in the buffer zones.
The Indian Army has been asking for the restoration of the status quo ante that existed along the LAC before the Chinese PLA’s aggressive moves.
The two leaders noted with satisfaction the successful disengagement last year and the maintenance of peace and tranquillity along the border areas since then. They 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, according to a press release issued by the Ministry of External Affairs.
India and China could not make much progress on the de-escalation or withdrawal of additional troops deployed along the LAC, despite two meetings between Special Representatives for boundary negotiations on December 18, 2024, and on August 19, 2025. China did not pull back its soldiers from the “rear areas” along the LAC, forcing India to maintain the same level of deployment.
The 1993 and 1996 agreements between India and China required both sides to refrain from amassing large numbers of troops in the border areas.
Modi and Xi on Sunday did not touch upon the issue of withdrawal of additional troops from the rear areas along the LAC, but referred to the discussion between Special Representatives for boundary negotiations, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who had on August 19 agreed that the border management mechanisms at diplomatic and military levels would be used to “discuss de-escalation, beginning with the principles and modalities thereof”.
Misri told journalists after the Modi-Xi meeting in Tianjin that while the continued deployment of additional troops along the LAC was a reality, India and China desired to be development partners and not rivals.
“The troops at the border, which are a reality, though I think that is again a situation that has started evolving over the course of the last year, as the situation at the borders has become more … or is moving towards normalisation,” said the foreign secretary.
“That (presence of large numbers of troops along the LAC) is something that has come about as a result of actions that have been taken at a particular point in time. And that's obviously led to a certain crisis. And it is that crisis that we have dealt with, or attempted to deal with over the course of the last five, five and a half years.”
“As long as they remain committed to the overarching principle of being partners, not rivals, and providing development opportunities, not threats, for each other, China-India relations will flourish and move forward steadily,” Xi told Modi.