Peace, tranquillity on border need of the hour: PM Modi to Xi Jinping

NEW DELHI: India and China on Saturday sought to further stabilise their ties, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his meeting with President Xi Jinping emphasising that peace and tranquillity in the border areas were essential for continued development of bilateral relations.

The two leaders expressed commitment to a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable resolution of the boundary question, proceeding from the political perspective of their overall bilateral relations and the long-term interests of the two peoples.

Xi is in India for the first time in seven years to attend the BRICS Summit.


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At their meeting held on the margins of the summit, Modi underlined the need for both sides to observe existing agreements and understandings on border-related issues.

India and China signed a series of agreements in the 1990s and 2000s to keep the Life of Actual Control (LAC) stable and peaceful. New Delhi has repeatedly stated that the border affairs would reflect on the state of bilateral ties.

The two leaders welcomed steady progress in India-China bilateral relations since their last meeting in Tianjin, China, in August 2025. They reaffirmed that both countries should take a strategic and long-term perspective of their ties and that differences should not become disputes. The Prime Minister highlighted that both sides be guided by three mutuals: mutual respect, mutual sensitivity and mutual interest.

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Xi told Modi that India and China must work together for the future of mankind.

The two leaders took note of the progress in people-to-people ties and underscored the need to further promote cultural exchanges, business linkages and greater mobility between the two countries.

On economic and trade relations, they underlined the need to address each other's concerns, including structural trade imbalance and supply chain issues, and facilitation of meaningful and predictable market access.

India is seeking wider market access in China to reduce trade imbalance and stated that Beijing should not weaponise supply chains.

Last month, ET reported that India and China were exploring a new framework to facilitate business-to-business exchanges and Chinese investments, with a focus on accelerated capital flow.

The leaders agreed that both sides must continue to expand common ground on regional and global issues, and in addressing challenges, according to a foreign ministry readout.

The Prime Minister in particular appreciated China's support for India's BRICS chairship and contributions towards the success of the BRICS Summit-2026.

Ties have started stabilising since Modi and Xi met in Kazan on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in 2024 followed by their meeting in Tianjin on the margins of the SCO Summit in 2025. However, progress to improve overall health of ties has been slow while being steady. The Line of Actual Control has been largely incident free over the past year.

Ahead of Xi's visit, India and China last month reached an eight-point understanding including creation of additional two meeting points for holding the General Level Mechanism/ Senior Highest Military Commander meeting (SHMC) and two additional channels of border military hotline in the Eastern and Middle Sectors with the objective to improve the border management measures with the goal of stabilising the LAC.