Tensions Ease: India-China Relations Thaw

Nearly five years after the violent confrontation on June 15, 2020, at Galwan along the India-China frontier—where India mourned the loss of 20 troops and China acknowledged its own casualties—Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi convened on October 23, 2024, during the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia. This encounter marked a deliberate effort to mend a strained bilateral relationship. While the summit allowed Russia to demonstrate its global relevance, the Xi-Modi dialogue captured widespread interest due to the icy ties following the Himalayan border clash.

The rendezvous followed exhaustive negotiations that gradually eased tensions. Their previous meeting occurred in Chennai, India, in 2019, before the COVID-19 crisis deepened mistrust. Many blamed China for either sparking the pandemic or withholding critical early data, severing communication channels between New Delhi and Beijing. The 2020 Galwan skirmish intensified hostilities, prompting India to ban Chinese apps like TikTok, block Chinese investments, and exclude China from its 5G trials. Although direct flights resumed after a five-year hiatus, visa restrictions on Chinese businesspeople persist.

India countered China’s border infrastructure build-up by accelerating its own projects—constructing durable roads, bridges, and tunnels—while bolstering defences and deepening ties with the West, especially the United States. New Delhi insisted that peace along the border was essential for improved relations, accusing Beijing of undermining trust through violations. Beijing, however, urged a broader, strategic view of ties, suggesting normalcy despite unresolved border issues—a stance India saw as sidestepping accountability. After 17 diplomatic sessions, 21 military talks, and political efforts before the BRICS summit, an October 20 agreement paved the way for the leaders’ meeting.

India remained tight-lipped about the bilateral until Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri announced on October 21 a patrolling accord along the Line of Actual Control, resolving post-clash disputes. The subsequent Xi-Modi talks reflected pragmatic necessity: two nuclear-armed neighbours with a 3,488-km contested border cannot afford prolonged silence. Beyond security, their relationship spans trade, cultural ties, and a shared anti-colonial legacy, complicated by global alignments—India balancing BRICS partners Russia and China against Western overtures.

Disengagement at Depsang and Demchok, the final friction points in eastern Ladakh, concluded recently, with both sides dismantling structures erected since April 2020 and initiating verification patrols. A key outcome was the revival of the Special Representative Talks on border resolution, which had been dormant since 2019. China seeks economic access to India’s market, but trust deficits and India’s U.S. alignment hinder progress. As BRICS gains prominence, countering Western influence, the Xi-Modi meeting underscores a delicate dance of rivalry and cooperation amid a shifting geopolitical landscape.