Thawing India-China ties? PM Modi, Xi Communicate, Shake Hands on Sidelines of SCO Summit in Kyrgyzstan | Today’s news
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan to attend the 26th Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit, held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday (local time).
While it remains unclear what the two leaders discussed, a video of their interaction has been released on social media, signaling a thaw in relations between the two countries.
PM Modi, Xi Jinping is wonderful
Prime Minister Modi and Xi Jinping were seen shaking hands before the two leaders joined others for a family photo at the 26th SCO summit, marking a rare moment of personal diplomacy between the two neighbours. As cameras focused on the Yrys Ordo Congress Hall in Bishkek, Russian President Vladimir Putin joined the interaction between Modi and Xi.
According to news agency ANI, the development comes months after Prime Minister Modi invited Xi to attend the BRICS summit that India will host later this month. Xi thanked PM Modi for the invitation as he offered Beijing’s support for the BRICS chairmanship in New Delhi.
Meanwhile, CGTN journalist Zhao Yunfei said on Tuesday that India and China should make more use of multilateral forums such as the SCO and BRICS to deepen engagement and advance their common interests.
He spoke about India-China ties and the upcoming BRICS summit in New Delhi, adding that the two multilateral platforms could provide an opportunity for the leaders of the two countries to meet and engage.
Zhao said, “I think it has created several opportunities for the two presidents to meet. It would be really good for the relationship between China and India because we are neighboring countries. China has always attached importance to its neighbors because we are neighbors, and then we have to settle all the differences and also work together for the common wealth of the people in the region.”
Thawing India-China ties?
The interaction between the two leaders comes days after India’s National Security Adviser (NSA) and Special Representative on the India-China Border Issue Ajit Doval visited China to attend the special representatives’ meeting on the India-China border issue with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
Doval, who was in Beijing on August 24 and 25, also met Chinese Vice President Han Zheng. In a social media post, the Indian embassy said Doval and Han exchanged views on maintaining peace and stability along the border and deepening bilateral ties across the economic, political and multilateral spheres. The talks followed an understanding reached between the leaders of India and China.
Relations between New Delhi and Beijing strained after the 2020 Galwan Valley clash and the long-running military dispute in eastern Ladakh. Since then, however, both sides have taken steps to improve their relations. In a bid to ease tensions, PM Modi and Xi met on the sidelines of key international summits, including the 2025 SCO summit in Tianjin. They previously met in 2024 on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Kazan, where they reaffirmed that India and China are development partners rather than rivals.
