Modi Meets Xi: A New Outreach with Clear Red Lines

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Tianjin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) leaders’ summit on August 31. This is Modi’s first visit to China since the Indian and Chinese troops clashed on the border in 2020.

Through this outreach, and during regular SCO ministerial interactions, New Delhi has made its red lines loud and clear to Beijing. The issue of the border has figured prominently in the discussions between Modi and Xi. Modi has pitched a stable relationship between the two nations based on ‘mutual respect, mutual interest and mutual sensitivity’. He has underscored that peace along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) will have a bearing on the trajectory of the India-China relationship. While disengagement has taken place along the LAC in eastern Ladakh, de-escalation is yet to happen with approximately 50,000-60,000 troops are still deployed on either side of the LAC in the region.

Modi has pitched a stable relationship between the two nations based on ‘mutual respect, mutual interest and mutual sensitivity’.

 In August, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi was in New Delhi for the 24th round of Special Representatives talks. The SRs mechanism was set up in a 2003 agreement, and is mandated to look into ways to resolve the boundary question from a political perspective. During this sitting, it was resolved to set up an ‘expert group’ under the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs to work out the feasibility of boundary delimitation in the border areas, and a ‘working group’ to advance effective border management to maintain peace along the LAC. During the meeting of defence ministers at the SCO in June, India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had told his counterpart that the two nations should work towards a permanent solution of border demarcation, and a structured roadmap of permanent engagement and de-escalation. Thus, the initiative to effectively manage the LAC and delineate the border, which has been a bone of contention, has gathered momentum.

The other issue that Modi raised with Xi was the issue of cross-border terrorism that has come to the forefront after the terrorist attack in Pahalgam on April 22 in which 26 people were gunned down. Indian representations during previous ministerial meets of SCO too have highlighted the issue. During the SCO meet in July, Foreign Minister S Jaishankar had reminded China that the prime objective of the multilateral grouping was to combat terrorism, separatism, and extremism. Banned Huawei satellite phones and encrypted apps were suspected to be aiding terrorists involved in the Pahalgam terror attack in communicating with their handlers across the border. Earlier, Beijing blocked moves to place Jaish-e-Mohammad’s Rauf Asghar, Lashkar-e-Taiba’s Sajid Mir and Abdur Rahman Makki on a UN sanctions list. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had  refused to endorse a joint statement at the SCO Defence Ministers’ meeting in China in June, as India had been pushing for inclusion of tougher language on terrorism that reflected its position. This concerted effort seems to have borne fruit. The SCO declaration adopted at Tianjin stated that “they expressed their deepest sympathy and condolences to the families of the dead and the wounded, and that the “perpetrators, organisers and sponsors of such attacks must be brought to justice.” The joint declaration added that “The Member States, while reaffirming their firm commitment to the fight against terrorism, separatism, and extremism, stress the inadmissibility of attempts to use terrorist, separatist and extremist groups for mercenary purposes.” This puts Pakistan on notice since Islamabad is known for the use of proxy terror groups, and the Pakistani Army has deep links with terrorist outfits.

Banned Huawei satellite phones and encrypted apps were suspected to be aiding terrorists involved in the Pahalgam terror attack in communicating with their handlers across the border.

Lastly, the issue of Taiwan has come up prominently during previous interactions between the Indian and Chinese sides. New Delhi and Taipei have been assiduously fostering cooperation in science and technology. Foxconn Chairman and CEO Young Liu received India's third-highest civilian award on the Republic Day last year, and he later met Modi in New Delhi to discuss investment plans. During the media briefing after the Modi-Xi summit, the issue of Taiwan was raised. Rather than being on the defensive, New Delhi has steadfastly maintained that it was well within its rights to build relations with Taipei in economic, technological and cultural spheres, just like China-Taiwan dynamics in the same areas. Also, in maintaining that there was no change in its position on the Taiwan issue, this assertion is cryptic in itself, since India had not repeated that it commits to the notion of one-China. In fact, the late Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj had reminded her counterpart that if China did not adhere to a one-India policy, why should India want to affirm a one-China policy.

While Modi asserted India’s red lines to China during the Tianjin summit, it also sent out a message to the U.S. U.S. President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on Indian goods over its import of Russian oil. In Modi sharing a ride with Russian President Vladmir Putin, New Delhi has sent a message to Washington that it will double down on strategic autonomy, and will not back down.

This commentary originally appeared in Economic Times.

• International Affairs
• China
• India
• border dispute
• cross-border terrorism
• de-escalation
• India-China relations
• Line of Actual Control
• Modi-Xi summit
• Pahalgam attack
• Pakistan proxies
• SCO summit
• strategic autonomy
• Taiwan issue

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