New Delhi: Days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s proposed meeting with Chinese president Xi Jinping at Tianjin, China, on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit, reports of a ‘private’ letter written by Xi to Indian President Droupadi Murmu in March this year is doing the rounds.
This letter apparently led to the start of thawing of ties between India and China after five years, since the 2020 Galwan border clash.
According to a Bloomberg report, this letter – calling for better ties between the two neighbours – was written as part of China’s outreach to India after the US intensified its trade war against the former. This letter was passed on to Modi and the Indian government started taking it seriously in June after US president Donald Trump turned the barrel of the gun towards New Delhi.
The report claims that Xi had expressed concerns regarding Indo-US ties that may harm Beijing’s interests. The Chinese president apparently named a ‘provincial officer to steer Beijing’s efforts’. It was around that time that Xi had said that making the ‘elephant and that dragon dance together’ was the only right choice.
While the matter of a ‘private’ letter cannot be confirmed, Chinese ambassador to India Xu Feihong had dropped a hint about Beijing’s efforts on April 1.
“President Xi Jinping exchanged congratulatory messages with President Droupadi Murmu on the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and India. President Xi pointed out that China and India are both ancient civilizations, major developing countries and important members of the Global South. Both countries are at a critical stage in their respective modernization drive. The development of China-India relations demonstrates that it is the right choice for both sides to become partners for mutual success and realize a cooperative pas de deux of the dragon and the elephant, which completely serves the fundamental interests of the two countries and peoples,” Xu posted on X.
“Both sides should view and handle China-India relations from a strategic and long-term perspective, and seek ways for neighboring major countries to get along in peaceful coexistence, mutual trust and mutual benefit, and common development, and jointly push forward world multipolarization and democracy in international relations,” he added.
The Chinese ambassador went on to say: “President Xi expressed his readiness to work with President Murmu, taking the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries as an opportunity, to promote strategic mutual trust, strengthen exchanges and cooperation in various fields, deepen communication and coordination on major international affairs, jointly safeguard peace and tranquility in China-India border regions, advance China-India relations on the track of sound and stable development, so as to contribute to world peace and prosperity.”
Xu also posted President Murmu’s response. “President Murmu said that India and China are two large neighbours, who represent a third of humanity. Stable, predictable and amicable bilateral relations will bring major benefits to us both, as indeed to the world. Let us utilize the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations to work towards healthy and stable development of India-China bilateral relations,” he wrote.
Modi’s visit to China will be his first in more than seven years. He had last met Xi in 2024 during the BRICS Summit in Russia’s Kazan.
