This week on Worldview, there’s a sudden spate of India China meetings as the two countries prepare to celebrate 75 years of diplomatic ties- and issue statements about resuming normal dialogue. As Delhi and Beijing discuss putting travel trade and visas back on track, Is India also prepared to put the LAC standoff and Galwan killings behind ?
This week saw a series of meetings in Beijing at the official level that appear to be setting the stage for something more substantial in the coming months between India and China. Last week, we had told you at Worldview about PM Modi’s comments to an American podcaster that were quite a departure from the past.
This week, a team of Indian officials- foreign, home, and defence ministry travelled to Beijing
They held a meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC).
They also held a meeting of the two foreign ministry delegations.
There was also a meeting of SCO Defence officials in Qingdao ahead of the SCO Defence ministers meeting that India is expected to attend.
Speaking at an event in Delhi, here’s what EAM Jaishankar said:
“We feel that from October of last year, the relationship has seen some improvement. We are working on different aspects of it. I’ve met my counterpart a few times, so have my other senior colleagues. And what we are trying, step by step, is to see if, you know, we can rebuild, undo some of the damage which happened as a result of their actions in 2020, and we can rebuild the relationship. And we genuinely, sincerely think that this is in our mutual interest, that if one looks at that 2020 to 2025, I think it was a period which did not serve them well, and it did not serve us well.”
Significantly , when asked about the chance India would join the Squad, a more security oriented grouping of Australia, Japan, Philippines and the U.S. in the South China Sea, Jaishankar was clear:
“On the squad issue, we are happy with the Quad.”
So what exactly is on the cards between India and China at present?
1. Resumption of direct flights- these were stopped during Covid, but never restarted.
2. Restart of the Kailash Mansarovar yatra also suspended since 2020- needs to resume next month.
3. Re-issue of visas, easing systems for business visas, media exchanges
4. Restoration of transborder river information sharing amidst concerns over China’s Yarlung Po dam
5. Easing up trading and business exchanges, significant that reports say the Chinese EV maker BYD might open a plant near Hyderabad soon. Many suggest this is also a way of letting off some of the pressure coming from the Trump administration with its planned tariffs and demands for moving manufacturing to the U.S.
Issues that are not resolved so far:
1. De-escalation of the Line of Actual Control and demobilization of troops. Dismantling of infrastructure in the disputed zone.
2. China wants the revocation of what is called Press Note 3 (2020)- That said, an entity of a country that shares a land border with India needs special MHA clearance. This has held up the Chinese acquisition and investment in Indian companies.
3. Full resumption of high-level contact. PM Modi met President Xi in October, but will there be a bilateral summit in India or China? Modi is due to travel to Tianjin for the SCO summit- due to be held in Autumn- sometime between September to November. The big question, will the leaders also hold a retreat- it is China’s turn to host- that’s also about the time India will host the Quad
4. Clarity on reasons for 2020 and mechanisms to ensure no repeats. Thus far there are still no explanations of why the PLA moved to the LAC in April 2020, and the Galwan clashes in which 20 Indian soldiers and an undisclosed number of Chinese soldiers were killed.
Was it a local operation, spurred by jostling at the LAC?
Was it about geopolitics, India’s ties with the US, and China’s plans for Taiwan?
Was China reacting to new maps published by India after the changes in J&K in 2019?
Was it meant to prevent Indian soldiers from building infrastructure on India’s side of the LAC even as China bolsters its own ?
If you want to follow this more closely, it’s worth subscribing to the Geospatial Bulletin brought out by the Takshashila Institute- particularly the new Chinese construction along the LAC at Pangong Tso, Arunachal Pradesh, and the Doklam plateau.
I have written about these lingering questions. Please do read the article.
WV Take
2025 will mark many changes for the world, mostly disruptive, but by all official accounts, the India China relationship that marks 75 years of ties, is forecast to move into a more stable zone. Much will depend on the next few months, both at the LAC and at the trade fronts and whether Xi and Modi hold a bilateral summit. Without fully understanding why 2020 happened, it will be hard to ensure it doesn’t jeopardise all future understanding, however.
WV Reading Recommendations
1) Understanding The India-China Border: The Enduring Threat of War in the High Himalayas by Manoj Joshi
2) India and China: Beyond the Binary of Friendship and Enmity by Professor BR Deepak
3)The Last War: How AI will shape India’s final showdown with China by Pravin Sawhney
4) Negotiating India’s Landmark Agreements Hardcover – 30 October 2024 by Avtar Singh Bhasin
5) The World According to China- Elizabeth Economy
Script and Presentation: Suhasini Haidar
Editing: Shibu Narayan and Sabika Syed
Published – March 28, 2025 09:25 pm IST