China’s Xi and India’s Modi move to repair ties

China’s Xi Jinping and India’s Narendra Modi have sought reassure each other that they are “partners not rivals” as the world’s two most populous countries seek to repair ties amid the fallout from Donald Trump’s trade war.

In a meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), a regional security forum, Mr Xi told Mr Modi that China was not a threat to India, despite a history of clashes along their Himalayan border and Beijing’s support for Pakistan.

“China and India are co-operation partners, not rivals,” state media Xinhua quoted Mr Xi as saying at the meeting in Tianjin, northern China. The two nations “are each other’s development opportunities rather than threats”, he said.

The attempt at reconciliation with Mr Modi comes as Mr Xi seeks to use the SCO meeting, whose other attendees include Russia’s Russian president Vladimir Putin and the leaders of Iran, Pakistan, and central and southeast Asian countries, as a show of regional solidarity.

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China is also aiming to portray itself as a more dependable partner for developing countries than the Trump administration, whose trade measures have affected allies and adversaries in the region.

Last year, nuclear-armed China and India began patching up damage to their relationship from a fatal border clash in 2020 after Mr Modi met Mr Xi in Kazan.

However, the push has gained momentum in recent months, especially after Mr Trump alienated Mr Modi’s government, which had been moving closer to the US until then, by imposing tariffs of up to 50 per cent on Indian exports.

“Our co-operation is linked to the interests of 2.8bn people of our two countries,” Mr Modi told Mr Xi. The Indian prime minister is making his first trip to China in seven years.

Mr Modi said de-escalation efforts included the resumption of direct flights between the two countries and an agreement to ease tension at the border.

“After the disengagement at the border, an atmosphere of peace and stability is now in place,” Mr Modi told Mr Xi.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs said the Indian PM “noted that India and China both pursue strategic autonomy, and their relations should not be seen through a third-country lens”.

But in a hint at other tensions over trade – India runs a huge trade deficit with China – the Indian ministry said the leaders “underlined the need to proceed from a political and strategic direction to expand bilateral trade and investment ties and reduce [the] trade deficit”.

“I wouldn’t call this a rapprochement in the strict sense of the word, but we are certainly seeing tensions being reduced and a move towards stability in the relationship,” said Nirupama Rao, a former foreign secretary of India and ambassador to Beijing.

The SCO comprises 10 members, as well as 16 “dialogue partners” and observers. Mr Xi is due to hold a banquet for the leaders on Sunday evening before a formal summit on Monday at which they will agree on a joint declaration.