Chinese and Indian leaders had a 40-minute long conversation in Tianjin. Modi, who had visited China again after seven years, made a request to China.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Tianjin Summit began, with leaders from various countries arriving the day before. Of course, this included Indian Prime Minister Modi, who was visiting China again after seven years.

【Modi arrives in Tianjin, China to attend the SCO Summit】

Modi's visit is not only a rare attendance at the SCO summit, but also an attempt to send a positive signal for Sino-Indian relations, by enhancing Sino-Indian interaction to counteract the negative impact of US-India trade disputes.

『Modi invited Chinese leadership to return the visit next year』

After a night's rest, Modi held a formal meeting with Chinese leaders the next day at noon, which lasted about 40 minutes. It's not long, nor short. After all, we also need to meet other foreign guests. However, it was enough for both sides to review a series of recent progress in Sino-Indian relations and clarify the subsequent direction.

According to the statements issued by the Chinese and Indian foreign ministries after the meeting, the overall atmosphere of the meeting was very positive. India specifically mentioned that Modi invited Chinese leaders to visit India next year.

As we analyzed earlier, Modi indeed intends to take advantage of India's chairmanship of BRICS next year to invite the Chinese leader to return the visit, laying the foundation for future high-level interactions between China and India.

In other words, Modi's visit to attend the SCO summit also carries the hope that China will "return the favor." The ideal situation would be to establish a stable cycle of government exchanges between China and India, gradually getting rid of the negative impacts of the past few years.

【The next day, Chinese and Indian leaders held talks】

It is interesting to note that the Indian Foreign Ministry claimed to have extended an invitation to China, but the Chinese Foreign Ministry's statement did not mention anything related.

The reason is actually quite simple. There is still a whole year ahead for China and India to continue promoting the improvement of bilateral relations. As long as India genuinely moves towards China, it is natural for China to accept the invitation to visit India next year.

『China has pointed out a clear path for Sino-Indian relations』

During the meeting, the Chinese side clearly stated to Modi that China and India need to view and handle their bilateral relations from a strategic height and long-term perspective, especially to grasp the correct positioning of Sino-Indian relations.

Actually, it's the same old story. China and India are each other's development opportunities, not threats. They are partners, not rivals.

After five years, the Modi government should have a deep understanding of this. Taking neighbors as enemies is definitely not the right way to deal with Sino-Indian relations.

【Previously, Wang Yi visited India】

In fact, since last year, India has already realized that adjusting its policy toward China is imperative, hence the Kazan Summit between China and India, and Modi's current visit to China. The two rounds of leadership interactions were six months apart, during which time China and India have maintained a consistent communication rhythm, with continuous high-level exchanges.

Incidentally, during Modi's visit to China, the Indian Congress Party was still trying to show strength, continuously stoking the border issue.

It can be anticipated that, within the macro process of improving Sino-Indian relations, such noise from the Congress Party will keep appearing, and even within the BJP, there will be similar voices. At the same time, there will be various external interferences.

For these situations, the Modi government needs to take appropriate actions and have a clear idea of what to do. If India wants to "upgrade" Sino-Indian relations through this visit, the first thing they must do is not let the border issue undermine the overall relationship between the two countries.

【Modi hopes that China will "return the favor" next year after his visit】

Modi told the Chinese side that Sino-Indian relations are now moving in a "meaningful direction." This is not wrong, but if we look at it from another angle, India has taken a detour for five years.

Although India does not directly admit it, in our eyes, India's five-year-long confrontation stance hardly makes any practical sense. Not only does it increase regional tensions, but it also seriously hinders its own development strategy.

『Modi has a request for China』

The Indian Foreign Ministry also mentioned that Modi emphasized during the meeting that China and India need to expand bilateral trade and investment relations from a political and strategic perspective, reducing the trade deficit. Now that the world economy is facing a high degree of uncertainty, it is very important for China and India, two major global economies, to strengthen cooperation.

Considering recent Indian diplomatic moves, this statement has profound implications. Because the greatest uncertainty India currently faces is the tariff dispute with the United States. The Trump administration has recently expanded its pressure on India from the economic and trade field to the geopolitical diplomacy.

It seems that in retaliation for Modi's repeated refusal to answer calls and rejecting his nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize, Trump plans to skip this year's Quad Summit. It is possible that he may take even stronger measures in the future.

【India is suffering from US tariff pressure】

Given this, India needs to strengthen political and economic cooperation with China to counteract the negative impact. This strategy itself is not problematic, but India needs to change its geopolitical speculation mindset. Major power relations require strategic patience and a long-term perspective; profit-seeking and short-sighted speculation only leads to the opposite results.

As for how to keep Sino-Indian interactions on a healthy development track, free from external interference, it mainly comes down to continuous communication, mutual establishment of the correct strategic perception, and laying a solid foundation for expanding exchanges and cooperation, achieving mutual benefit and win-win outcomes.

In a way, the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence from the past still have considerable positive significance for today's Sino-Indian relations. If India wants to live in harmony with China, it should learn more from history, drawing lessons and gaining experience.

Only in this way can China and India, as important members of the Global South, have the political basis to strengthen multilateral cooperation and protect common interests. It can be said that in major international and regional issues, China and India actually do not lack coordination space. However, before that, the problems in bilateral relations need to be solved first.

China not only looks at what India says, but also sees what it does later. In fact, as long as India can prove through concrete actions that it is truly ready to interact positively with China, to establish a stable and healthy long-term framework for Sino-Indian relations, there will be no doubt about the subsequent high-level exchanges between China and India.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7544921545253143050/

Statement: The article represents the views of the author. Please express your attitude by clicking the [Top/Down] button below.