‘Partners, not rivals’: Wang Yi says Modi-Xi meeting set new direction for India-China ties

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Monday that India and China should view each other as partners rather than rivals, describing this as the central outcome of the meeting between President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in New Delhi.

Speaking to Chinese official media, Wang said the two leaders held a “candid and in-depth exchange of views” on strategic and long-term issues concerning bilateral ties, according to the news agency PTI. “The most important consensus they reached was that China and India should be partners,” he said.

According to Wang’s account, Xi said the two countries could draw on each other’s strengths, support one another, help each other succeed and pursue common development. The two leaders also agreed to maintain peace and tranquillity in the border areas and to support each other during their respective BRICS chairmanships.

The Chinese foreign ministry said the relationship had moved from a “restart” to a “renewed elevation” under the strategic guidance of the two leaders. Wang said areas of cooperation were expanding, trade had reached record levels and people-to-people exchanges were becoming more active.

Wang quoted PM Modi as saying that India was ready to be “a partner, not an adversary” to China and viewed each other’s development “as an opportunity rather than a challenge”. He said the Prime Minister had reaffirmed that India’s approach to China is independent of third-party influence. These remarks reflect the Chinese side’s account of the conversation.

The two leaders, Wang said, agreed to deepen political trust, appropriately manage differences and strengthen cooperation in areas including cultural exchanges and direct air connectivity. They also agreed to coordinate more closely through the United Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and the G20, while advancing cooperation among Global South countries.

The Ministry of External Affairs’ account of the meeting highlighted the need for a “strategic and long-term perspective” in managing bilateral ties. According to the MEA, PM Modi said differences should not become disputes and that relations should be guided by the “three mutuals” — mutual respect, mutual sensitivity and mutual interest. He stressed that peace and tranquillity along the border remained essential for the broader relationship and called for adherence to existing agreements and understandings. Both sides backed a “fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable resolution” of the boundary question.

On trade, the leaders discussed structural imbalances, supply-chain concerns and the need for “meaningful and predictable market access”. They welcomed progress in people-to-people ties and called for greater cultural, business and travel links.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said Beijing would work with New Delhi to implement the understandings reached by the leaders. “As the two leaders have charted the course for the future development of the bilateral ties, China will work with India to implement the important common understandings reached between the two leaders,” she said, adding that China wanted to “make the cooperation list longer”.

The meeting marks the latest step in a gradual normalisation of ties that were severely strained after the June 2020 clash in the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh, in which soldiers on both sides were killed. Relations have eased since India and China completed a disengagement arrangement in 2024, with border trade, pilgrimage routes and direct flights being restored in stages.

The two readouts are not identical in emphasis. New Delhi foregrounds border peace, adherence to existing agreements and market access, while Beijing foregrounds partnership, expanding cooperation and coordination in multilateral forums. Both, however, describe the talks as forward-looking and focused on managing differences.

With China set to assume the BRICS chairmanship in 2027, both sides are expected to build on the latest engagement.