'India-China ties back on track, but no total trust yet': Ex-ambassador on Modi–Xi meet

Former Indian ambassador to China Vijay Gokhale has described Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Tianjin as a continuation of dialogue rather than a reset in ties. Modi's visit marked his first trip to China in seven years as relations nosedived following the deadly clash in Galwan in May 2020.

"In fact, this was a meeting between the two leaders on the margins of a multilateral conference to carry forward a process of dialogue that resumed at the BRICS Summit in Kazan in Oct 2024 after a four-year hiatus," Gokhale wrote in a piece for The Times of India.

He recalled that every Indian prime minister since Rajiv Gandhi had sought stable and predictable relations with Beijing. "This was the case with the current Indian govt as well, until the Chinese military action in eastern Ladakh in 2020, especially in the Galwan Valley, disrupted the process," he said.

According to him, New Delhi's consistent stand was that a "normal bilateral relationship would stand suspended until the stand-offs in eastern Ladakh were resolved to India’s satisfaction."

The disengagement agreement of October 2024, he noted, enabled both sides to declare that "relevant dialogue mechanisms and exchanges would resume." Since then, Gokhale pointed out, the two countries "have re-started cultural exchanges, liberalised visa regimes, agreed to resume data-sharing arrangements for certain cross-border rivers and decided to restore direct air connectivity."

He argued that the Tianjin meeting should be seen as "part of the process of re-engagement to steer bilateral relations back onto the predictable track." At the same time, Gokhale cautioned against assuming a full reset. "This does not imply that the underlying doubts about China have given way to a new atmosphere of total trust," he wrote, citing government statements after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's August visit which stressed that concerns about de-escalation and the boundary issue remain at the forefront.

For India, he said, progress depends on tangible steps from Beijing. "China also needs to demonstrate through specific actions, not simply through clever use of language, that it will provide wider market access for Indian goods and services...and that it will not obstruct the supply of essential materials and intermediate goods required by Indian industry through the application of informal 'sanctions', as it did in the very recent past,” Gokhale observed.

He added that India has made it clear that “it falls to China to demonstrate that India’s legitimate space and role in the Indo-Pacific region will be acknowledged and respected." Until then, "there is no inevitability of a new and positive engagement."

Rejecting the idea that closer ties with Beijing undermine Delhi's partnership with Washington, Gokhale argued: "India is not a transactional power. It doesn't make deals for short-term benefit. It's a civilisational power that builds relationships for the long term and from the perspective of a world view."

Reflecting on the Indo-US partnership, he noted: "There's simply no denying that some of the recent statements from members of Trump's administration have damaged that trust and confidence between the two partners." Still, he underscored that "underlying foundations for the Indo-US partnership are strong," based on shared democratic values and common interests in the Indo-Pacific.

"It’s possible for India to have a strategic partnership with US and a stable relationship with China without either of them concluding that it’s a zero-sum game," Gokhale concluded.