Vikram Misri attends reception at Chinese embassy, says border peace is critical

NEW DELHI: India and China have resolved several issues in their border areas and are working on a road map to put bilateral ties on a “stable, predictable and amicable path”, foreign secretary Vikram Misri said on Tuesday at an event organised by the Chinese embassy to mark the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations.

Misri’s presence at the reception hosted by Chinese ambassador Xu Feihong marked a significant turnaround from India’s practice of deputing a junior diplomat to events organised by the Chinese embassy during the more than four-year military standoff on the Line of Actual Control (LAC), or even skipping certain events.

With the two sides reaching an understanding last October on withdrawing troops from the “friction points” at Demchok and Depsang and holding a series of meetings to normalise relations, Misri and Xu also participated in a toast to bilateral ties and cut a ceremonial cake.

Also Read: Recalibration of India-China ties

Misri described the 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties as an opportunity to rebuild India-China ties but made it clear this process can be durable only if it is based on “mutual respect, mutual sensitivity and mutual interests”. He said peace and tranquillity in the border areas is “critical for the smooth development of our overall bilateral relations”.

Noting that bilateral relations had gone through a difficult phase in the past few years, Misri said the two countries had “resolved several issues” along the border areas due to guidance from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping and the efforts of the political and military leadership.

The “fundamental understanding” that peace and tranquillity on the border is critical for the overall relationship was shared at the meeting between Modi and Xi in the Russian city of Kazan last October, and it is on the basis of this that both sides are “working together to chart a road map for our bilateral relations to return to a stable, predictable and amicable path”, Misri said.

The face-off on the LAC, which began in April-May 2020, took bilateral relations to their lowest point since the 1962 border war. Following dozens of rounds of talks through diplomatic and military channels, the two sides gradually withdrew their troops from friction points in Ladakh sector.

Modi and Xi met two days after the understanding on October 21 last year to withdraw front-line forces and agreed to revive several mechanisms to normalise relations. Since then, the foreign ministers have met in November 2024 and in February while the Special Representatives for the India-China boundary question – National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and foreign minister Wang Yi – met in Beijing in December 2024.

After a gap of nearly five years, defence minister Rajnath Singh met his Chinese counterpart in November 2024, and Misri visited Beijing in January for a meeting with his counterpart, vice foreign minister Sun Weidong.

“As a result of these encouraging engagements, we are looking at taking several steps to resume practical cooperation between our two countries. And amongst the first of these steps to resume practical cooperation is the resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra this year,” Misri said.

“We are also discussing resumption of cooperation on transborder rivers, on direct air services and several other issues,” he said, adding that the two sides are looking at several activities to commemorate the 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties to enhance people-to-people contacts and “restore mutual trust and confidence”.

The Kailash Mansarovar Yatra has not been held since 2020 and the two sides are currently discussing modalities for its resumption. The pilgrimage is usually held between spring and summer.

Misri described the formula of “mutual respect, mutual sensitivity and mutual interests” as a durable basis for rebuilding ties. “The path forward may be a difficult one, but it is one that we are prepared to walk. And it is on the basis of these steps that we have already taken in the last five months, that we have seen promising beginnings, which we should turn into tangible benefit for the people of our two countries.”

Xu, in his address, suggested “four inspirations” for bilateral relations – the strategic guidance of Indian and Chinese leaders serving as the “anchor” for relations, friendly exchanges and cooperation to act as the “foundational fabric” of ties, bridging differences through dialogue standing as the “one and only key”, and working for the future of the world.

“As close neighbors, our peoples may sometimes have differences...But our focus is to ensure that these differences don’t turn into disputes,” Xu said, noting that bilateral trade has increased from less than $3 billion in 2000 to $138.5 billion in 2024.

Faced with the “boundary question left over from history”, the two sides have established channels to seek a proper solution and have “pushed the border situation back to tranquillity through intensive dialogue”, he said.

“China and India will gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation. The ‘dragon-elephant tango’ is the only right choice for both sides,” Xu said, adding that the two sides should build a and stable relationship and uphold the “principles of mutual respect, mutual understanding, mutual trust, mutual accommodation and mutual accomplishment”.

He added, “We should properly handle differences through dialogue and never allow bilateral relations to be defined by the boundary question, or let specific differences affect the overall picture of bilateral ties, so as to ensure that China-India relations always move forward along the track of sound development.”