'India committed to take ties forward based on respect, sensitivity,' PM tells Xi in Tianjin

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held a bilateral meeting in Tianjin on Sunday, the first such engagement between the two leaders in nearly a year. During the meeting, the Prime Minister told the Chinese President that mutual trust and respect would take India-China ties forward.

The 40-minute discussion, attended only by the leaders and their interpreters, was aimed at consolidating the limited thaw in ties since their October 2024 meeting at the BRICS summit in Kazan.

"Last year in Kazan, we had very fruitful discussions that gave a positive direction to our relations. After the disengagement on the border, an atmosphere of peace and stability has been created," the Prime Minister Modi said.

Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar was not accompanying PM Modi. Instead, he was flanked by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and NSA Ajit Doval. "An agreement has been reached between our Special Representatives regarding border management. Kailash Mansarovar Yatra has been resumed. Direct flights between the two countries are also being resumed."

"The interests of 2.8 billion people of both countries are linked to our cooperation. This will also pave the way for the welfare of the entire humanity. We are committed to taking our relations forward on the basis of mutual trust, respect and sensitivity," the Prime Minister said. 

This is Modi's first visit to China in seven years. He arrived in Tianjin from Japan on Saturday to participate in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit and to hold separate meetings with key leaders. In a post on X ahead of the summit, Modi said he looked forward to the deliberations and to engaging with world leaders on the sidelines.

The meeting with Xi comes as both sides seek to stabilize their relationship amid a complicated international backdrop. For India, the talks carry added weight as tensions with Washington intensify following U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to impose 50 percent tariffs on Indian goods and criticism of New Delhi’s continued purchases of Russian crude oil.

Diplomatically, Sunday’s talks build on a series of quiet backchannel efforts that began after the Kazan summit. Both countries have since taken steps toward troop disengagement along contested parts of the Line of Actual Control and have cautiously resumed limited travel and cultural exchanges.

Recent high-level discussions have paved the way for progress. On August 19, India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval hosted Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in New Delhi, where the two sides agreed to a 10-point consensus. That included activating long-dormant border management mechanisms and creating a new expert group under the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) to pursue boundary delimitation.

Officials say Modi and Xi are expected to endorse a calendar of events marking 75 years of diplomatic relations, with final preparations underway this weekend. Trade and investment issues are also on the agenda, alongside security concerns.

Despite cautious optimism, the larger challenge of troop deployments remains unresolved. Both countries continue to maintain an estimated 50,000 to 60,000 troops each along the frontier. Any movement toward de-escalation will likely hinge on the outcome of sustained talks at multiple levels.

The Tianjin meeting reflects a balancing act for New Delhi, which has framed the engagement as a routine bilateral interaction on the sidelines of the SCO summit. However, with shifting regional alignments and new economic pressures, the Modi-Xi talks carry wider implications for India’s strategic positioning.