PM Modi meeting President Xi Jinping, PIB/Wikimedia Commons, GODL-India
Border peace and trade imbalances were on the agenda as Prime Minister Modi and President Xi Jinping held bilateral talks on the BRICS Summit sidelines in New Delhi.
The two leaders committed to a ‘fair, reasonable, and mutually acceptable’ border settlement, citing the 25th Round of Special Representative talks on August 25 and military flag meetings on September 6-7.
India and China gave differing readouts on the border-ties link, with New Delhi calling border peace foundational, while Beijing proposed parallel progress on cooperation and the boundary question.
The two sides also discussed structural trade imbalances, supply chain issues and predictable market access.
The talks marked Xi’s first India visit in seven years and his first meeting with Modi since the 2020 border standoff.
Modi and Xi agreed that both countries must take a ‘strategic and long-term perspective’ of their ties, and should not let differences become disputes.
The two leaders said stable India-China relations rested on three principles: mutual respect, mutual sensitivity and mutual interests.
India and China also discussed addressing structural trade imbalances, supply chain concerns and predictable market access as part of the economic component of the talks.
This was Xi Jinping’s first visit to India in seven years, and his first meeting with Modi since the 2020 border standoff significantly strained bilateral ties.
China’s readout of the meeting reportedly framed bilateral cooperation as something that could advance in parallel with resolving the boundary question, a formulation India has traditionally resisted.
India has consistently maintained that peace and tranquillity along the border are an indispensable foundation for the normal development of overall bilateral relations.
The bilateral meeting took place on the sidelines of the 18th BRICS Summit hosted by India in New Delhi.
The two leaders referenced the 25th Round of Special Representative talks on the boundary question, held on August 25, 2026, as part of ongoing efforts to manage the dispute.
PM Modi meeting President Xi Jinping, PIB/Wikimedia Commons, GODL-India
