India and China’s leaders sat down together on the margins of the BRICS gathering in New Delhi Saturday, with both sides afterward stressing a shared commitment to managing disagreements rather than letting them derail the broader relationship.
According to India’s foreign ministry, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Chinese President Xi Jinping that the two nations should keep sight of the bigger picture and resist letting friction points harden into lasting conflicts. He framed the relationship around three guiding principles — treating each other with respect, sensitivity to each side’s concerns, and attention to mutual benefit. Both leaders acknowledged the relationship has moved forward steadily since their previous encounter in Tianjin last August.
Modi raised the still-unsettled border question directly, telling Xi that calm along the contested frontier remains the foundation for any further warming of ties, and pressing for continued adherence to existing border-management arrangements. The two countries’ shared boundary — stretching roughly 3,500 kilometers — remains only partially demarcated to this day.
Trade came up as well, with both leaders acknowledging that lopsided trade flows, supply-chain friction and limited market access still need addressing, alongside efforts to boost commercial links and cross-border travel. Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar and national security adviser Ajit Doval joined the talks on the Indian side. Modi also credited Beijing with supporting India’s turn at the BRICS chairmanship this year.
Saturday’s meeting extends a slow-moving rapprochement that traces back to Modi and Xi’s first face-to-face talks after the deadly 2020 border clash in Galwan, held at the Kazan BRICS summit in October 2024 — an opening that has since led to restored direct flights and the return of Indian pilgrims to the Kailash Mansarovar route, even as both armies keep sizable forces stationed along the unresolved frontier.
