Candid talks for elevating China-India relations

The beauty of the “informal” summit between President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Wuhan, Hubei province, is that it comes with no baggage, only expectations. It is free of the usual diplomatic frills, somewhat beyond the global media limelight. And, if as expected, the “heart-to-heart” communication between the two leaders on Friday reflected their deepened mutual chemistry. Which, in turn, will be conducive to improving mutual trust between the neighbors and charting the course of longterm bilateral development.

There is no denying, however, that mutual suspicion is keeping the two countries from deepening cooperation and working together on regional and international issues, from fighting climate change to improving global governance. The border incident last summer was just one example of what mutual suspicion could lead to, reminding both sides of the disruptive potential of distrust.

Yet neither Beijing nor New Delhi calls the other an enemy, which means both expect bilateral ties to improve. Indeed, China and India are natural partners, and both realize they carry the hopes of the other developing countries to improve international relations, in order to make the world order more equitable.

As such, the Xi-Modi meeting reflects the two neighbors’ common aspiration to not only stabilize their troubled relationship but also caution disruptive powers it is difficult to drive a wedge between the two neighbors.

The idea behind the two leaders having multiple one-on-one discussions, with only their interpreters present, over two days, will truly mean “heart-to-heart” talks, so they can address each other’s concerns and lift bilateral ties to a higher level. It will also help them strengthen their stakes in global affairs, for which the two sides have to more closely coordinate their trade policies to aggressively promote free trade so as to neutralize the protectionist moves by some economies.

Modi, on his part, seems to acknowledge the fact that there is genuine value in “resetting” relations with China in terms of political and security interests, as he expects it to raise India’s both profile and stake in matters global.

The two-day meeting is of historic significance, as Modi said on Friday, to maintain strategic common interest and deepen mutual trust.

And as Xi emphasized, the summit opens a new chapter in bilateral relations, which shows the outside world the two neighbors are determined to continue their win-win partnership.

Given his signature emphasis on and personal involvement in “top-level design”, Xi certainly aims higher than just improving bilateral ties.