There should be basis of religious belief, respect and faith: Modi to Xi Jinping

By Sandy Verma On Oct 24, 2024

China China:�Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday told Chinese President Xi Jinping that relations between India and China are very important not only for the people of both the countries but also for global peace, stability and progress. He underlined that relations between the two countries should be based on mutual trust, mutual respect and mutual sensitivity. The two leaders met on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia this evening. It was after five years that they held a bilateral meeting. They last met for an informal summit in Mamallapuram in October 2019, months before the military standoff between the armies of the two countries began in eastern Ladakh in April-May 2020. The much-awaited meeting came two days after Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri announced that the two countries had reached an agreement for patrolling arrangements along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), ending the military standoff after more than four years and The military standoff was resolved. Advertisement

Briefing journalists after the meeting of about 50 minutes, the Foreign Secretary said that both the leaders welcomed the agreement reached through continuous dialogue between the two countries on the patrolling arrangement across the LAC. He stressed the need not to allow differences on the border issue to disturb peace and harmony. In this regard, he underlined that the Special Representatives (SRs) of both sides have a central role on the border issue. He directed the SRs to meet as soon as possible to resume their talks. National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi are SRs from both sides.

The Foreign Secretary said Mr Doval and Mr Yi have been meeting on the sidelines of multilateral summits since December 2019. “We hope that their next meeting will take place at the appropriate time,” he said. Mr Misri said the two leaders believe that stable relations between their two countries will have a positive impact on global peace and stability. He also believed that restoration of peace on the border would create space for normalization of bilateral relations. He said officials of the two countries will now meet for strategic communication using available mechanisms, including talks at the level of foreign ministers. Shri Modi assured President Xi of India's support for China's chairmanship of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). Responding to a question, Mr Misri said the agreement on patrolling arrangements and the meeting between the two leaders had enabled the two countries to embark on the journey of normalizing bilateral relations.