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China signals push to reset ties as Xi Jinping visits India, vows to 'properly handle differences'
Xu Feihong talked about handling differences and mutual cooperation in a post on X hours before Xi Jinping’s visit to India for the BRICS Summit on Saturday.
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China’s envoy has said that Beijing will work together with India and handle the differences between the two countries under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Xu Feihong talked about handling differences and mutual cooperation in a post on X hours before Xi Jinping’s visit to India for the BRICS Summit on Saturday, during which he is scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting with PM Modi. Follow BRICS Summit LIVE updates here.
The Chinese envoy also confirmed that the meeting was being arranged between the two leaders.
“China and India are arranging for the bilateral meeting between President Xi and Prime Minister Modi. This will be the third year in a row for the two leaders to meet with each other, following their meetings in Kazan and Tianjin,” the ambassador said.
Xu Feihong signalled a reset in ties between China and India, saying that Beijing will work with New Delhi on several fronts, including mutual cooperation and handling of differences.
“China will work with India to act on the strategic guidance of the two leaders, handle the bilateral relations from a strategic height and long-term perspective, step up communication, enhance cooperation, properly handle differences, and be friends enjoying good-neighbourliness and partners helping each other succeed,” he added.
Deep Dive
Xi Jinping is visiting India for the first time in nearly seven years for the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi at the invitation of PM Modi, following his 2020 visit. He is expected to meet PM Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Saturday, with the talks expected to focus on consolidating efforts to normalise bilateral ties and the long-running boundary dispute.
Xi last visited India in October 2019, when he travelled to Mamallapuram in Tamil Nadu for the second India-China informal summit. The meeting came less than six months before Indian and Chinese troops became embroiled in a military standoff in Ladakh that lasted more than four years and pushed bilateral ties to their lowest point in decades.
The Xi-Modi talks agenda
The meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS summit will give the two leaders an opportunity to assess progress towards normalising ties and discuss next steps on the border issue, as HT reported earlier.
While the two sides have taken several steps towards normalisation in recent years, differences remain on a range of issues. These are likely to figure in the highly anticipated meeting between Modi and Xi today.
India has concerns about China’s visa restrictions on Indian businesspeople and curbs on the export of key technologies and equipment. Beijing, meanwhile, has maintained that the border issue should be kept separate from the broader development of bilateral relations.
India has repeatedly maintained that the state of the border will determine the overall course of ties.
Xi’s visit also comes amid reports of fresh tensions between Indian and Chinese troops at Taksing in Arunachal Pradesh.
Another issue of concern for New Delhi is China’s planned $137-billion mega dam on the upper reaches of the Brahmaputra River on the Tibetan plateau. India has sought greater transparency and information-sharing on the project, with concerns growing after the recent glacier collapse in Nepal.
