The leaders of China and India held talks after a gap of five years on Wednesday on the sidelines of a BRICS Summit in the Russian city of Kazan, indicating the first major thaw in relations after a deadly clash between their soldiers in 2020.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held delegation-level talks days after the nuclear-powered neighbours announced an agreement on the patrolling of a contentious section of their border that saw the deadly clash.
During their meeting, Xi said the two sides should strengthen communication and cooperation and properly manage differences and disagreements, Xinhua news agency reported. Xi urged China and India to facilitate each other’s pursuit of development aspirations.
Modi welcomed the recent agreement for complete disengagement and resolution of issues that arose in 2020 in the India-China border areas and underscored the importance of properly handling differences and disputes and not allowing them to disturb peace and tranquillity
Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said the effort to restore peace on the border by diplomatic and military negotiators and its endorsement by the top leaders of the two countries will open the path for normalization of relations.
Relations between the two major Asian economies have been frosty since the 2020 clash in the Himalayan region of Ladakh which led to the deaths of 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers.
While Xi and Modi have met several times at multilateral meetings, they have not held formal talks since those clashes. India has restricted issuing visas to Chinese nationals and squeezed Chinese investments, saying improved business ties was tied to resolving the border stand-off.
Misri also said at the briefing that the special representatives of the two countries would be resuming a long-standing dialogue soon to resolve border disputes. The last round was held in 2019.
India and China fought a brief border war in 1962 and dispute several sections along their ill-defined, 3,500-kilometre border.
