[🇨🇳] China VS India

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China, India hold border talks, agree to continue search for boundary settlement

China and India agreed on Tuesday to continue dialogue and seek a "fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable settlement" of their border issue after talks between senior diplomats in Beijing. The world's two most populous nations, both nuclear powers, share a roughly 3,800-km (2,400-mile), largely

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

China, India hold border talks, agree to continue search for boundary settlement

National flags of China and India fly next to the Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Center, a venue for 2025 Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin, China Aug 30, 2025. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/Files

China and India agreed on Tuesday to continue dialogue and seek a "fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable settlement" of their border issue after talks between senior diplomats in Beijing.

The world's two most populous nations, both nuclear powers, share a roughly 3,800-km (2,400-mile), largely undemarcated and disputed border in the Himalayas.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and India's National Security Advisor Ajit Doval had "comprehensive, in-depth, friendly and candid" discussions on border affairs and bilateral ties, China's foreign ministry said in a statement.

Wang said China-India relations were no longer only of bilateral importance but carried global and strategic significance, saying the two neighbours should strengthen communication and reduce their differences.
The Indian Embassy in China confirmed in a post on X that the two sides had reviewed bilateral ties and had discussed ways to further expand cooperation and maintain stability and peace in border areas.

Ties between Beijing and New Delhi have gradually improved in recent years following a deadly 2020 border clash, which led to a four-year military standoff before a disengagement agreement was reached in October 2024.

Last year Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited China for the first time in seven years, in a sign of a thaw in relations. More recently, a fresh border-related dispute triggered sharp diplomatic exchanges between the two rivals.
"Both sides should learn from historical experience, place the border issue in an appropriate position in bilateral relations, and move forward without stagnation, regression, or deviation," Wang was quoted as telling Doval at Tuesday's meeting.

The two countries have agreed to hold the next round of border talks in India in 2027, the Chinese statement added.​

 

[Saif]

India-China thaw: five things to know as Xi heads to Delhi

Chinese President Xi Jinping heads to India for a summit on Saturday that could mark the biggest step in a cautious thaw after years of hostility between the two countries. Xi's visit for the 12-13 September BRICS summit would be his first trip to India since October 2019 and follows Prime...

en.prothomalo.com

India-China thaw: five things to know as Xi heads to Delhi

AFP
New Delhi

Chinese president Xi Jinping and India prime minister Narendra Modi meet on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia on 23 October 2024Reuters

Chinese President Xi Jinping heads to India for a summit on Saturday that could mark the biggest step in a cautious thaw after years of hostility between the two countries.

Xi's visit for the 12-13 September BRICS summit would be his first trip to India since October 2019 and follows Prime Minister Narendra Modi's August 2025 visit to China.

The nuclear-armed Asian giants have been been slowly improving ties since a deadly 2020 border clash. Flights, some visas and high-level contacts have gradually resumed.

But deep mistrust remains, with their disputed Himalayan frontier, a heavy trade deficit and strategic rivalry complicating ties. Here are five things to know:

Border comes first

The relationship was transformed by the June 2020 Himalayan border clash, when fighting in Ladakh killed 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers.

In October 2024, Beijing and Delhi agreed on patrolling arrangements, paving the way for renewed political contacts.

But the underlying territorial dispute remains unresolved, and both sides retain heavy military deployments along their roughly 3,500-kilometre (2,175-mile) high-altitude border along Tibet.

"They are looking for 'early and substantial harvest' when it comes to the border issue," said Pradeep Taneja, a China-India expert at the University of Melbourne.

"You cannot have a buildup of your forces on the border... but at the same time say 'we should continue to have people-to-people relations and economic relationships.'"

The Dalai Lama also lives in exile in India, ever since the Buddhist spiritual leader fled the Tibetan capital Lhasa after Chinese troops crushed an uprising in 1959.

Beijing condemns the Dalai Lama as a rebel and separatist.

Unequal trade ties

China is now India's largest trading partner, with bilateral goods trade reaching $151 billion in the 2025-26 financial year, according to Indian government data.

But the relationship is heavily tilted towards Beijing.

India imported $131 billion of goods from China, while exports were $19 billion, leaving a record $112 billion trade deficit.

Modi's government is pushing domestic manufacturing and seeking to reduce dependence on China for machinery, electronics, chemicals and industrial components.

But Wu Xinbo, dean of the Institute of International Studies at Shanghai's Fudan University, said India needs Chinese technology.

"India... need China's -- not just investment -- but more and more technology," he said.

China, he added, also wants to expand trade "even though India keeps complaining about the trade imbalance".

Partners and rivals

Both are members of BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

Taneja argued that for Beijing, Xi's "primary reason" for the visit is to bolster BRICS as an "alternative institution" to US-dominated institutions.

But they are also competitors.

India's security partnership with Washington, including its participation in the so-called Quad security alliance with Japan and Australia, is viewed warily by Beijing.

China's close relationship with India's arch-rival Pakistan is looked at with concern by New Delhi.

"The very fact that President Xi is coming to India does indicate that... even if it's because of the turbulence in the world caused by America, the two countries want a working relationship," said Ashok Malik of The Asia Group.

Confidence-building measures

Ties have slowly warmed since 2024. That includes moves to revive border trade across their Himalayan frontier, ease visas, and allow Indians to resume a key Hindu pilgrimage to Tibet's Mount Kailash.

Direct flights, suspended for more than five years, resumed in October 2025.

"The relationship is now being put back on track," said Harsh V. Pant, of India's Observer Research Foundation.

"But it is more stabilisation, rather than any dramatic change."

Test, not breakthrough

Modi and Xi last held formal bilateral talks at the SCO summit in Tianjin in August 2025.

Their brief interaction at this month's SCO summit in Bishkek offered another public signal of a thaw.

But analysts remain cautious.

"The mistrust between India and China is so huge," said Pant. "Unless there is a demonstrable shift in Chinese behaviour, it is very unlikely that many in India would buy the India-China friends narrative."​

 

[Saif]

Modi, Xi set for Delhi talks as India-China thaw faces another test

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping will hold talks in New Delhi on Saturday as the two Asian powers seek to build on a cautious thaw after years of strained relations. The bilateral meeting will take place on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit and comes during Xi's

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Modi, Xi set for Delhi talks as India-China thaw faces another test

Chinese President Xi Jinping and India Prime Minister Narendra Modi meet on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia Oct 23, 2024. Source: China Daily via REUTERS/File

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping will hold talks in New Delhi on Saturday as the two Asian powers seek to build on a cautious thaw after years of strained relations.

The bilateral meeting will take place on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit and comes during Xi's first visit to India in seven years, Reuters reports.

Ahead of the meeting, Beijing said the two countries should approach their relationship from a "strategic height and long-term perspective" and be "partners helping each other succeed", according to The Indian Express.

The talks follow a gradual improvement in ties after a deadly clash between Indian and Chinese troops along their disputed Himalayan border in 2020.

At least 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese troops were killed in the fighting in the Galwan Valley, sending relations between the nuclear-armed neighbours into a deep freeze.

India subsequently tightened scrutiny of Chinese investment, widened vetting of business visas, banned popular Chinese mobile apps and severed direct passenger air links, Reuters reports.

The two countries reached a disengagement pact in October 2024, with the remaining troop pullbacks completed by the end of that year.

Relations have since begun to recover.

Direct flights have resumed and India has eased some restrictions imposed after the border crisis, although investment barriers, visa delays and difficulties obtaining Chinese equipment persist, according to Reuters.

China was India's largest source of imports in the 2025-26 financial year, with shipments worth $132 billion.

But significant sources of tension remain.

Both countries continue to maintain substantial military deployments along the disputed Himalayan frontier, which stretches roughly 3,800km, Reuters reports.

Territorial disagreements persist, while India remains wary of Chinese investment in sectors it considers sensitive to national security.

The Indian Express, citing sources, reports that the two sides have been working towards a strategic economic dialogue covering issues including India's trade deficit with China, market access, investment and visas.

Modi and Xi held talks on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Kazan in October 2024, shortly after the border disengagement agreement.

Saturday's meeting comes against a markedly different backdrop from the hostility that followed the 2020 clash, but analysts caution that the improvement in diplomatic ties has yet to remove deeper mistrust between the neighbours.

Harsh Pant of the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation told Reuters ahead of Xi's visit that the "trust deficit" remained high.

The talks in Delhi will offer the latest indication of how far the two sides are prepared to take their cautious reset.​

 

[Saif]

Modi, Xi push business links, border peace as ties revive

Leaders to tackle trade imbalance, New Delhi says

www.thedailystar.net

Modi, Xi push business links, border peace as ties revive

Reuters, New Delhi

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in New Delhi, India, September 12, 2026. Photo: Reuters

India and China's leaders pledged on Saturday to build up business and transport links, New Delhi said, as both rebuild ties badly damaged by a 2020 military clash on their disputed Himalayan border.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping met on the sidelines of a summit of the BRICS group of emerging nations in New Delhi -- Xi's first trip to India in seven years.

Military tensions have eased, but businesses in both countries say they continue to face hurdles, including red tape, visa delays and restrictions on selling industrial equipment.

"The two leaders ... underscored the need to further promote cultural exchanges, business linkages and greater mobility between the two countries," the Indian foreign ministry 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," it said.

Bilateral trade reached a record $155.6 billion in 2025, according to Chinese customs data.

China has become India's largest source of imports, with Indian purchases from China rising to about $132 billion in the 2025/26 fiscal year. India's exports to China remain much smaller, leaving New Delhi with a trade deficit of more than $100 billion.

Xi said China has always viewed and developed China-India relations from a strategic and long-term perspective, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Institutional exchanges between the two countries are gradually being restored, the list of areas for cooperation is growing and bilateral trade has reached a new high, Xi said according to Xinhua.

China and India fought a brief but brutal border war in 1962, and their relationship soured again after the 2020 border skirmish killed 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers.

Ties began recovering at the end of 2024 after Xi and Modi agreed to end their military stand-off in the western Himalayas.

Irritants remain as both countries continue to maintain substantial military deployments in the Himalayas and border talks make slow progress.

Modi said that peace in the border areas remained an essential basis for the continued development of bilateral relations, according to the Indian statement.

The nuclear-armed neighbours share a roughly 3,800-km (2,400-mile), largely unmarked frontier.​