Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, during a two-day visit to India, met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday. Prior to this meeting, he held discussions with NSA Ajit Doval and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar. Wang’s visit, which began on Monday, is seen as an effort by both sides to mend their strained relations following the 2020 Galwan Valley clash. According to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, relations with China are improving post-Galwan. The visit of Wang has led to agreements on multiple issues, including maintaining peace and stability on the border and resolving the border dispute as soon as possible. Furthermore, agreements were reached to resume border trade, re-establish direct air services, and increase the number of Indian pilgrims for the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra. Several other matters also saw mutual consent between the two nations. The meeting between PM Modi and Xi Jinping took place two days after an agreement to disengage troops from Depsang and Demchok in eastern Ladakh between India and China. The Chinese Foreign Minister also met with his counterpart S. Jaishankar.
Key agreements between the two sides include working towards a resolution of the India-China border dispute, establishing an expert group for an early resolution of border demarcation, discussing the reduction of military forces, immediately restoring direct flight services, finalizing the air service agreement, issuing visas to tourists and professionals, expanding the scope of Indian pilgrimages, sharing information related to river waters by China, resuming border trade at three trading points, promoting India-China multilateralism, discussing cooperation on trans-border rivers, and agreeing to celebrate the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between India and China. In the last 9-10 months, there has been significant improvement in India-China relations. Following the meeting with Wang, NSA Doval stated that the borders are peaceful, with peace and harmony prevailing, and that bilateral relations have become more solid. During the meeting with Wang, Doval also mentioned the meeting between PM Modi and Xi Jinping in Kazan, noting that relations improved after this meeting. The two sides discussed various issues, including bilateral, regional, and international matters of common interest. The Indian side strongly raised the issue of cross-border terrorism, to which Wang also expressed agreement. Both sides agreed to maintain peace and harmony on the LAC.
