India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and China’s President Xi Jinping met this Saturday (the 12th) on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in New Delhi, in the latest effort by the two countries to repair ties strained by a border confrontation six years ago.
Xi stated that his country has approached its relations with India from a “strategic and long-term” perspective and urged both countries to leverage each other’s strengths, support one another, and pursue common development.
The Chinese president also urged a “high-quality cooperation” between the countries, saying that both, as important members of the Global South, should promote a more multipolar world and contribute to global peace and stability.
The summit marks Xi’s first visit to India since 2019 and another step toward a cautious thaw between the neighbors, six years after a border clash that severely damaged ties.
A military clash in 2020 killed at least 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese along an arduous border in the Ladakh region. This turned into a long-standing standoff in the rugged and mountainous area, where each side stationed tens of thousands of military personnel supported by artillery, tanks, and fighter jets.
Since then, India and China have taken steps to ease the tensions, but distrust remains. Xi’s visit is expected to test whether the recent thaw can translate into a broader stabilization of the ties.
With 11 members, BRICS brings together about half of the world’s population, but its expansion has also widened political and economic differences.
*Content translated with the aid of Artificial Intelligence, reviewed and edited by the Broadcast editorial team, the real-time news system of the Estado Group
