At this year's SCO summit, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not attend in person, but instead sent Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar. On the sidelines of the summit, China and India held a dialogue at the foreign ministers' level, and in the presence of Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Jaishankar pledged to stabilize the situation on the China-India border.
According to a report on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, during the meeting, Foreign Minister Wang Yi gave the Indian counterpart face and respect. During the conversation, Foreign Minister Wang Yi referred to India as an ancient civilization and a representative of large developing countries and emerging economies, a change in the title that demonstrates China's recognition of India's international status. After showing enough respect, Foreign Minister Wang Yi made two demands to the Indian side.
[Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Jaishankar have met many times before]
First, on the border issue and the resumption of normal exchanges between the two sides, Foreign Minister Wang Yi stressed that the two countries should look at the issue from a strategic perspective, strengthen communication and properly handle differences while ensuring the sustained, healthy and stable development of bilateral relations. Foreign Minister Wang Yi's position is an attempt to break India's prejudice and push the bilateral relations forward. You must know that the Indian side seems to have preferred to resume normal exchanges only after the border issue has been completely resolved. Therefore, China's proposal undoubtedly increases the flexibility to resolve the differences between the two sides, and also shows China's positive attitude towards stabilizing China-India relations.
Second, Foreign Minister Wang Yi proposed that China and India, as countries in the Global South, should work together to oppose unilateralism and hegemony and safeguard the common interests of developing countries. These remarks not only underscored India's importance among the countries of the "Global South", but also reminded India that China and India have the potential to play a leading role in multilateralism and the reconstruction of the global governance system, and jointly confront unilateralism and hegemony.
Obviously, Foreign Minister Wang Yi's remarks fully demonstrate China's diplomatic wisdom. Even though China and India have differences on the border issue, China still gives enough respect to the Indian side, and at the same time reminds the Indian side that as a neighbor that cannot be moved, we should work together for regional peace and stability, and should not completely develop into a hostile relationship for the sake of minor differences. In other words, although China and India have differences, they can still be resolved through negotiations, and there are more international issues that China and India need to play together.
[Jaishankar makes a promise]
Jaishankar was also very active in Foreign Minister Wang Yi's proposal. Jaishankar's emphasis on addressing specific differences based on the visions of the two leaders shows that India is willing to resolve issues through dialogue and hopes to open a new chapter in China-India relations. More importantly, Jaishankar made it clear that India will maintain an independent foreign policy, which is actually seeking a balance on the international stage, rather than completely tilting towards either side, especially in the current context of the United States trying to draw India against China through the "Indo-Pacific strategy".
It can be seen from this meeting that although there are considerable differences and contradictions between China and India, the leadership of both sides has shown their willingness to find a way to resolve the issue through dialogue and cooperation. This shows that in the current context of international multipolarization and the reform of the global governance system, the development of China-India relations is not only related to the interests of both sides, but also to regional and even global stability and development.
In fact, on the China-India issue, China has seized the initiative after years of planning. Previously, China not only released the 2023 version of the standard map, including "disputed border areas" in the map, but also organized military exercises in the border areas on many occasions. What's more, when dealing with relations with neighboring countries, the Chinese side has always pursued the principle of mutual respect, and the so-called reaching out and not smiling people will not show it to their faces, even if the Indian side has other ideas.
【China-India Border】
It is worth mentioning that during the dialogue, Foreign Minister Wang Yi also emphasized the five "mutual" principles, hoping that China and India will "respect each other, understand each other, trust each other, take care of each other and achieve each other", and explore the right way for the two countries to get along. Obviously, the Indian side can naturally feel China's sincerity by taking the initiative to throw an olive branch regardless of its previous suspicions, and in this way, the border situation can be effectively brought under control without spending a single shot. However, despite Jaishankar's promises, we still can't let our guard down and be ready to deal with any unexpected situation at any time.