Kazan spirit in full flow as top India-China officials meet in Beijing

India and China are maintianing the momentum for normalising ties following the October meeting in Kazan between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chines President Xi Jinping

There has been no let-up in the momentum generated by the highly consequent meeting between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Kazan BRICS summit.

The October meeting in Russia between two tall leaders driving the rise of Asia thawed the frozen ties between the two civilizational states. Since May 2020, relations between the two Asian giants were on edge on account of their border tensions. In June that year, an unarmed clash between their militaries in the Galwan valley triggered deep animosity, reflected in the massive troop buildup in the high mountains of Eastern Ladakh.

But following the Modi-Xi meeting in Kazan, held after a gap of five years, both leaders agreed to defuse tensions. The first steps to lower the temperature have already taken place since. Troops from both countries have disengaged from their confrontational posture. The next step would be de-escalation, resulting from the pullback of forces from the border to their peacetime locations.

In order to firm up this process of de-escalation, India’s national security adviser Ajit Doval is in Beijing for talks with China’s foreign minister and head of the central foreign affairs office, Wang Yi. Both Doval and Wang wear another hat. The governments of the two countries have designated them as their Special Representatives. There task is to negotiate a final settlement of the 3,488 kilometre disputed frontier shared by the two countries.

Ahead of the meeting on Wednesday, New Delhi and Beijing had declared their intent to achieve solid breakthroughs that would mend their frayed relationship.

China is ready to work with India to bring bilateral ties back on track “as soon as possible, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesman declared a day before the crucial talks. On its part, India spelled out its end game. A statement by the Indian external affairs ministry stressed that Doval will discuss the “management of peace and tranquillity in the border areas and explore a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution to the boundary question.”

In order to understand the spurt in diplomatic engagement between the two countries, some dynamic background factors may have played their part.

First, both Beijing and New Delhi have been targets of the US deep-state. The American deep state’s interreference in India’s national elections, its decision to dock India for the killing of a Khalistan separatist in Canada has deeply soured New Delhi-Washington ties during Joe Biden’s presidential tenure. Canada and US’ refusal to act against India’s foes brazenly operating in these closely knitted countries has not gone down well in Modi’s New India.

Tensions between China and the US have been palpable in the Pacific ocean—blared by glaring differences in the South China Sea and Taiwan. Recently, the US maybe targeting China from the South Asia axis. Both Beijing and New Delhi would have been alarmed by the US-backed regime change in Bangladesh. The toppling of the elected government of Sheikh Hasina, which was replaced by a US backed regime can turn Bangladesh into a springboard for undermining security in northeast India. China would also feel the heat if a US naval base were to be established in a Bangladeshi port of Matarbari in the Bay of Bengal. Such a move could threaten China’s attempt to use neighbouring Myanmar’s deepwater port of Kyaukphyu to lower its trade reliance on the US controlled Malacca strait.

Third, India is looking forward to Chinese investments in India, in all sphere except those that have security implications. China is also keen to diversify its economic engagements, as it is experiencing headwinds in its commercial and tech-ties with the West.

Given the unpredictability and political turbulence in the West, India and China realise that they are key pillars of the multipolar world, whose interests can be hedged with a deeper engagement with the rapidly expanding BRICS grouping and the Global South.

In tune with deepening trust, India and China, in future may like to radically alter their imagination of the border areas, especially Eastern Ladakh. Both civilizational states are mindful that India and China once engaged vigorously in border trade, with caravans from Leh in Ladakh heading into China through the lofty Karakoram pass. With better road connectivity on both sides now, it may be possible to conceive a new trade corridor linking Leh and Kashgar in China’s Xinjiang autonomous region through the Karakoram pass, reviving an ancient trade route between the two civilizations.

The normalisation of India-China ties also opens vast possibilities of joint forays by the Russia-India-China (RIC) sub-group, trilaterally as well as in the Global South.

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