In addition to the big sensation that the Brics states want to add a few letters, there was also a small sensation at the summit in South Africa: a meeting between Narendra Modi and Xi Jinping. The heads of state of the world’s two most populous countries, India and China, met briefly with their interpreters in the so-called Heads of State Lounge to discuss the long-simmering border conflicts.
Dubbed the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the India-China border is approximately 3800 kilometers long and runs in the Himalayas from Ladakh in the west to the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. In recent decades, it has led to several conflicts between the two nuclear powers. The most recent clash between patrols from both countries took place more than three years ago and left 24 dead. Since then there has been radio silence at the top level.
The officials should intensify “efforts for a rapid disentanglement”.
Both countries stationed more than 100,000 soldiers at the LAC, which could also be given a new definition by new border posts, as people in Delhi in particular fear. Just before the Brics summit, military commanders from both sides had held talks for five days to reach an agreement. Both sides then said the talks had gone well, but there was no evidence of a troop withdrawal on the ground.
So, finally, a face-to-face conversation on the subject between Modi and Xi took place. The leaders agreed to “direct their relevant officials to intensify efforts for swift disengagement and de-escalation,” Indian foreign ministry secretary Vinay Kwatra told Reuters. Modi drew attention to Xi’s “India’s concerns about the unresolved issues along the LAC,” Kwatra said.
Xi told Modi, according to China’s Xinhua News Agency, “that improving China-India relations serves the interests of both countries” — and is conducive to peace, stability and development. “The two sides should keep the overall interests of their bilateral relations in mind and deal appropriately with the border issue to jointly ensure peace and tranquility in the border region,” Xi said. It is interesting in this context that both sides have different perceptions of who initiated the conversation.
In Delhi, hardliners threw Chinese televisions onto the streets
The Hindustan Times reported on Friday, citing inside sources, that the meeting had been requested by the Chinese side. Modi has made it clear that he is concerned about the Chinese army’s troop reinforcements in eastern Ladakh, while China wants to normalize relations between the countries. Since the last skirmishes at the LAC in 1975, Beijing has insisted that border issues be separated from economic issues.
Delhi sees things decidedly differently and started an economic decoupling three years ago, which was probably more of an image campaign. In Delhi, hardliners threw out their Chinese TVs, but China remains India’s biggest trading partner, with a foreign trade deficit of nearly $70 billion last year.
The procedure at the LAC also shows the balance of power between the two giant countries. “One thing is very clear: China has taken land from India,” said Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, who took up the issue on Friday during a speech in the Ladakh city of Kargil, where it was no coincidence that he was a guest to honor a wreath to lay down the fallen soldiers of India. It is sad that the Prime Minister claims that not even an inch of Ladakh has been taken by China – “that is a lie”. In India the elections will be held in 2024, and the election campaign is already starting with a bang.