India’s Modi meets China’s top diplomat Wang as Asian powers rebuild ties

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has met China’s top diplomat Wang Yi and hailed the “steady progress” made in improving the bilateral relationship after a years-long standoff between the nuclear-armed Asian powers and as the two nations navigate a shifting global economy upended by United States President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

Modi also noted “respect for each other’s interests and sensitiveness” in a statement on social media after meeting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang in New Delhi on Tuesday. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the countries have entered a “steady development track” and the countries should “trust and support” each other.

Wang arrived in India on Monday and has met with Foreign Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar as well as National Security Adviser Ajit Doval about the countries’ disputed border in the Himalayan mountains.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs said Wang’s meeting with Doval discussed “deescalation, delimitation and boundary affairs”.

Relations plummeted in 2020 after security forces clashed along the border. The violence, the worst in decades, left 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese soldiers dead, freezing high-level political engagements.
“The setbacks we experienced in the past few years were not in the interest of the people of our two countries. We are heartened to see the stability that is now restored in the borders,” Wang said Monday.

Modi emphasised the importance of maintaining peace and tranquillity on the border and reiterated India’s commitment to a “fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable resolution of the boundary question,” his office said in a statement.

‘Political compromise’
The rebuilding of India-China ties coincides with friction between New Delhi and Washington after United States President Donald Trump imposed steep tariffs on India for continuing to buy Russian oil, which the US says is fuelling Moscow’s war machine.