75th anniversary of India, China ties celebrated; pleasantries exchanged

New Delhi: Five months after the end of the military stand-off along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, India and China on Tuesday started celebrating the 75th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations, with the leaders of the two neighbouring nations exchanging greetings and diplomats cutting cakes together.

India and China, two major neighbouring countries and home to one-third of the population of world, need a stable, predictable and friendly bilateral relationship that would benefit both countries and the world, President Droupadi Murmu said in a message to her counterpart Xi Jinping.

The development of the bilateral relations demonstrates that it is the right choice for China and India to be partners of mutual achievement and realise the ‘Dragon-Elephant Tango’, which fully serves the fundamental interests of both countries and their peoples, Xi conveyed to Murmu, according to Xinhua, the state news agency of the communist country.

Xi also said that China stood ready to work with India to take the anniversary of ties as an opportunity to enhance strategic mutual trust, strengthen exchanges and cooperation in various fields, deepen communication and coordination in major international affairs, jointly safeguard peace and tranquillity in the border area, push forward a sound and steady development of bilateral relations and contribute to world peace and prosperity.

Xi called on both India and China to view and handle bilateral relations from a strategic height and long-term perspective, seek a way, which features peaceful coexistence, mutual trust, mutual benefit and common development, for neighboring major countries to get along with each other, and jointly promote a multi-polar world and greater democracy in international relations.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his counterpart Li Qiang also exchanged greetings on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the bilateral diplomatic relations.

The development of India-China relations is not only conducive to the prosperity and stability of the world, but also conducive to the realisation of a multipolar world, Modi said in his message to Li, almost echoing Xi.

The prime minister added that the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between India and China would usher the bilateral relations into a stage of sound and stable development.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi also exchanged greetings.

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri attended an event hosted by China’s envoy to India, Xu Feihong, in New Delhi in the evening. They jointly cut a cake to mark the beginning of the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.

Modi and Xi Jinping held a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS summit at Kazan in Russia on October 23, 2024. The meeting was the first between the two in five years, and it followed an agreement between the two sides on the arrangement of patrolling by the Indian Army and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army in Depsang and Demchok areas – the last two remaining stand-off points along the LAC.

The disengagement of the Indian and Chinese troops in Depsang and Demchok marked the end of the stand-off, which had started in April-May 2020 when the Chinese PLA had deployed a large number of soldiers in an aggressive move to push the LAC westward, and the Indian Army had also counter-deployed additional troops. The relations between the two nations had nosedived during the stand-off, which continued for almost five years.