China and India have recently reached multiple consensuses, including India expressing full support for China’s rotating presidency of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and both sides agreeing to resume direct flights between the Chinese mainland and India, and facilitating personnel exchange, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Tuesday.
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong and Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri held the China-India Vice Foreign Minister-Foreign Secretary Dialogue in Beijing on Monday. The meeting focused on pushing forward the implementation of the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries during the meeting in Kazan and discussing the measures for the improvement and development of China-India relations, according to a release by the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Tuesday.
The two sides reached consensus on multiple issues. Among these consensuses, the Indian side will extend full support for Chinese presidency of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and will actively participate in the meetings under the SCO umbrella.
The two sides agreed to carry out active interactions at all levels on bilateral and multilateral occasions, strengthen strategic communication, and enhance mutual political trust, according to the release.
The two sides agreed to jointly commemorate the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and India in 2025, and carry out media and think tank exchanges, Track II dialogues and other people-to-people exchanges, it read.
Hu Zhiyong, a professor from Zhejiang International Studies University and also research fellow at the Institute of International Relations at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times that the consensuses reached by both sides showed that, at this moment, both sides have common interests to stabilize bilateral ties and remove obstacles for further cooperation, as there will be uncertainties and challenges in 2025 that will require both sides to work together.
“Although the two countries had frictions and tensions in different fields in the past few years and New Delhi has imposed many sanctions or strict measures to target some Chinese firms that are operating in India, the data about trade between the two countries prove that decouple from China is unfeasible, and Indian decision-makers have realized that the confrontation approach against China is wrong and unsustainable,” Hu noted.
The Indian media Economic Times reported on January 15 that “India is heavily reliant on Chinese imports, with the country’s trade deficit surging to $85.1 billion in fiscal year 2024. China was India’s top import source with $65.89 billion, a 9.8 per cent year-on-year increase between April-October, 2024.” However, India’s exports to China “dipped by 9.37 per cent to $8 billion in the same period last fiscal,” according to India’s Commerce Ministry data.
According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, at the meeting on Monday, the two sides agreed to resume direct flights between Chinese mainland and India, support the competent authorities of the two countries to coordinate and push it forward, and take measures to facilitate personnel flows and exchanges of resident journalists.
The two sides agreed to resume the Indian pilgrims’ visit to Kailash Mansarovar in Xizang Autonomous Region, China in 2025, and will discuss relevant arrangements as soon as possible.
The two sides also agreed to advance trans-border river cooperation, and maintain communication on holding a new round of meeting of the China-India Expert Level Mechanism on Trans-border Rivers at an early date, according to the release.
Hu said the obstacles of people-to-people exchange were unilaterally not set by China, and now it’s the right decision for India to remove them and correct this mistake.
Li Zishuo, a Chinese student who is studying in Jawaharlal Nehru University of India, told the Global Times that since late 2024, after the meeting between top leaders of the two countries on the sidelines of the 16th BRICS Summit in last October, the bilateral ties and people-to-people exchange have recovered gradually.
“Chinese students in India or those who plan to come to India find that it’s easier for them to get Indian visa now. In the past, they were troubled by groundless reasons such as ‘national security concern’ of the Indian side,” Li said.
Indian universities who welcome Chinese students are also becoming more confident on the visa issue, Li said. “The number of new exchange students from China has also increased, and the application for student visa is also easier to get passed. But more efforts are needed, and we are being cautious to observe what will happen in 2025.”
Lin Minwang, a professor at the Institute of International Studies at Fudan University, told the Global Times on Tuesday given the geopolitical landscape and other global uncertainties, India has realized that it has to expedite efforts to improve relations with China. Thus, barring unexpected circumstances, the broader trend of stabilizing China-India relations by 2025 is likely to be stabilized and proceed smoothly.
During the dialogue, the Chinese side stressed that both sides should view and handle China-India relations on the basis of the fundamental interests of the two countries and two peoples and from a strategic height and long-term perspective, actively advance exchanges and practical cooperation with a candid and constructive attitude, guide the public opinion in a positive way, enhance mutual trust, and properly handle differences, so as to promote the development of China-India relations along the sound and stable track.
The two sides also had a candid and in-depth exchange of views on issues of respective concern, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
