Xi tells Modi that China and India should be partners, not rivals
Tense neighbors reengage amid shared concerns over Trump tariffs
SHANGHAI/TOKYO -- Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed trade and ways to shore up bilateral ties on Sunday, as leaders from across the region convened in the Chinese city of Tianjin for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit.
Modi had arrived in China the previous evening, marking his first visit in over seven years.
In a video of the meeting posted on Modi's X account, the Indian prime minister said, "We are committed to advancing our relations based on mutual trust, respect and sensitivity."
Relations between the world's two most populous countries sharply deteriorated after a deadly clash along their disputed border in 2020. They kept direct flights between each other suspended after the COVID-19 pandemic, and India banned dozens of Chinese apps including TikTok. But analysts say U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs against India for buying Russian oil, which took effect on Wednesday, have damaged U.S.-India ties, presenting an opportunity for Beijing and New Delhi to ease tensions.
Modi told Xi that ties have been moving in a "positive direction" since the two met at the BRICS summit in Russia last year. He spoke of "peace and stability" on the border and said direct flights "are also being resumed."
"Our cooperation is linked to the interests of 2.8 billion people of our two countries," Modi said.
Xi said the two sides "should view and handle bilateral relations from a strategic and long-term perspective," according to Chinese state news agency Xinhua. He said the ties will advance steadily as long as China and India see each other as "partners rather than rivals" and focus on "opportunities for development rather than threats."
The Chinese president added that joint efforts are needed to maintain "peace and tranquility" at the border, and that territorial issues should not define the relationship.
Like India, China has been hit by Trump's tariffs, with a temporary trade war trucebetween the powers due to expire in November, although it has so far not faced additional punitive levies for being the world's largest buyer of Russian oil.
In a readout released after the meeting, India said that the two sides "recognized the role of their two economies to stabilize world trade."
"They underlined the need to proceed from a political and strategic direction to expand bilateral trade and investment ties and reduce trade deficit," the document said. Modi also stressed that "India and China both pursue strategic autonomy, and their relations should not be seen through a third country lens."
The tariff factor may be changing the geopolitical calculations for both Asian countries, observers say.
"An important element bringing the United States and India closer together over the course of the last twenty-five years has been a shared concern about the balance of power in Asia," Alyssa Ayres, adjunct senior fellow for India, Pakistan and South Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations, wrote in a recent article.
"If India now has stronger concerns about the United States on the world stage -- some concerns that may be shared in some ways with China -- that changes the foundation of the conversation entirely."
Shamshad Ahmad Khan, assistant professor of international relations at the Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani's Dubai Campus, said: "It is quite natural to think that India will discuss the strategy to meet the challenges posed by the Trump tariff, not only with China but also with other SCO members who are also part of Global South, and they are feeling the impact of the Trump tariff too."
Khan said that as India aims to diversify its exports, China and other SCO nations could be options. "India will certainly use this forum also as a bargaining chip and a pressure tactic ... in its tariff negotiations with the U.S.," he said.
Xi met various other foreign leaders on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning ahead of the SCO summit, according to state news outlet Xinhua. The guests included Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, Myanmar's acting President Min Aung Hlaing and Antonio Guterres, the secretary-general of the United Nations.
The SCO summit, which is also attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, will end on Monday. Some of the leaders will remain in China to attend a military parade in Beijing on Wednesday to mark the end of World War II.
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, who was scheduled to attend both the SCO and the parade, canceled his trip to China due to large demonstrations at home.