Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held a high-stake bilateral meeting on September 12, Saturday on the sidelines of the 18th BRICS Summit. The discussions signalled a renewed effort to stabilise India-China relations after years of tensions following the Galwan clash of 2020, when diplomatic relations had hit rock-bottom.
The meeting came as BRICS leaders unanimously adopted the New Delhi Declaration 2026, with both India and China stressing dialogue, cooperation, global stability and a greater voice for the Global South.
Both the leaders acknowledged steady progress in bilateral ties and reiterated that India and China should approach their bilateral relationship from a “strategic perspective” while considering long-term development. PM Modi highlighted that bilateral relations should be driven by 3 Mutuals-“Mutual repsect, mutual sensitivities and mutual interests”.
PM Modi also appreciated China’s “support and cooperation” during India’s presidency of BRICS and Beijing’s contribution to the success of the forum. “We now have the opportunity to discuss bilateral cooperation. Once again, a warm welcome to India”, he added.
During the talks, PM Modi reiterated peace and tranquility in the border areas as prerequisite to cordial bilateral relations. He underlined the need for both sides to observe existing agreements and understandings on border related issues. The two leaders expressed commitment to a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable resolution of the boundary question proceeding from the political perspective of their overall bilateral relations and the long-term interests of the two peoples”, read MEA statement on what PM Modi said during the meeting.
Apart from the border management & security, Prime Minister Modi and Preisdent Xi Jinping also reivewd the progress in comprehensive India-China relations. “The two leaders took note of the progress in people-to-people ties and underscored the need to further promote cultural exchanges, business linkages and greater mobility between two the countries”, MEA said in a statement.
“On economic and trade relations, they underlined the need to address each other’s concerns, including structural trade imbalance and supply chain issues and facilitation of meaningful and predictable market access”, MEA further added.
President Xi said that India and China, despite being different countries, had demonstrated the ability to support each other and pursue common development. He stressed that the two sides could learn from each other’s strengths and work towards shared development.
The Chinese President also highlighted the broader responsibilities of India and China as two of the world’s most populous countries and members of the Global South. According to Xi, the two countries have “important responsibilities” towards a shared future for humanity and should contribute to a more equitable, inclusive, open and economically integrated world.
He further called on India and China to work together for the “high-quality development” of greater BRICS cooperation.
Xi noted that he was happy to attend the New Delhi BRICS Summit and congratulated India on the successful conduct of the summit. He said taht the two leaders had met more than 20 times over the past 12 years, resulting in a series of important understandings and consensuses.
Xi, meanwhile, called on BRICS countries to play a peacemaking role amid the West Asia conflict, saying China would work with other members towards peace and stability in the region.
China will assume the BRICS chairship next year and host the 19th BRICS Summit. Xi said Beijing would use the opportunity to build consensus, work with all members and “usher in the third golden decade of BRICS cooperation.”
