Modi-Xi says Asian century, multipolar Asia depend on India-China cooperation

By Anjali Sharma

WASHINGTON – Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday met on the sidelines of the SCO Summit in Tianjin, according to the Ministry of External Affairs.

They agreed that India and China must cooperate to realize the Asian century and maintain peace along the border, with consensus on deepening strategic communication, expanding cooperation, and safeguarding common interests.

MEA said that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Chinese President Xi Jinping, at the SCO Summit in China, agreed that India and China must grow and cooperate if there is to be an Asian century and a functioning multipolar world order with a multipolar Asia at its heart.

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, in a presser, said, “The Prime Minister is on a visit to Tianjin for the SCO summit taking place here. Prime Minister’s first engagement this morning was a bilateral meeting with President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China. We released a statement on that meeting. This is the second meeting between the two leaders in the space of less than a year. Their last meeting was in Kazan in October last year, where they had laid down certain strategic guidelines for the development of bilateral relations and set out certain goals to be achieved by the two sides.”

Modi’s bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Misri stated, “They both agreed that the two countries were primarily focused on their domestic development goals, and in this, they were partners rather than rivals. It was also an element of consensus between them that a stable and amicable relationship between India and China can be to the benefit of the 2.8 billion people who live in the two countries.”

“The common interests of the two countries outweigh their differences, and the two leaders also shared a consensus on the fact that differences should not be allowed to be turned into disputes. It was also understood that India and China must grow and cooperate if there is to be an Asian century and a functioning multipolar world order with a multipolar Asia at its heart,” he added.

Both leaders expressed satisfaction with the progress achieved and the steps taken since their last meeting in Kazan, noted that bilateral ties had continued to gather momentum, in the sphere of people-to-people exchanges, stated MEA.

They discussed their respective views on the principles guiding India-China relations, which they felt would shape future cooperation across other areas as well, stated the MEA.

Both leaders agreed that their countries remain primarily focused on domestic development objectives, seeing one another more as partners than as competitors in this pursuit, as per MEA.

Misri said that they shared the understanding that a stable and cordial relationship would serve the interests of the 2.8 billion people living in India and China.

He emphasized that the commonalities between the two nations far outweigh their differences, they concurred that disagreements must not be allowed to escalate into disputes.

Misri stressed that the boundary issue was discussed, with both leaders noting last year’s disengagement and the maintenance of peace in border areas.

Modi stressed that peace and tranquality along the border are essential for the smooth progress of bilateral ties.

Both sides agreed to uphold peace through existing mechanisms and to prevent disturbances in overall relations.

President Xi proposed four steps to advance ties: enhance strategic communication and trust, expand exchanges and cooperation, ensure mutual benefit and win-win outcomes, address each other’s concerns, and strengthen multilateral coordination, stated Misri.