Underlining that the relationship between India and China is very important not only for the people of the two nations but also for global peace, stability and progress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday told Chinese President Xi Jinping that mutual trust, mutual respect and mutual sensitivity should be the basis for ties between the two neighbours.

The two leaders met at Kazan in Russia this evening on the margins of the BRICS Summit. This was after five years that they had a bilateral meeting. They had last met for an informal summit at Mamallapuram in October 2019, a few months before a military stand-off erupted between the forces of the two countries at eastern Ladakh in April-May 2020.

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The much-anticipated meeting came two days after Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri announced that the two countries have reached an agreement for patrolling arrangements along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), leading to disengagement and a resolution of the military stand-off after over four years.

Briefing reporters after the nearly 50-minute meeting, the foreign secretary said the two leaders welcomed the pact reached between the two countries on patrolling arrangements across the LAC through a sustained dialogue. They underscored the need for not allowing differences over the border issue to disturb peace and tranquility.

In this regard, they underscored that the Special Representatives (SRs) on the border issue on the two sides have a central role to play. They instructed the SRs to meet at an early date to resume their dialogue. National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi are the SRs on the two sides.

The foreign secretary said Mr Doval and Mr Yi have been meeting on the sidelines of the multilateral summits since December 2019. ”We hope to schedule the next round of their meeting at an appropriate time,” he added.

The two leaders, Mr Misri said, were of the view that stable relations between their two countries will have a positive impact on global peace and stability. They also were of the opinion that the restoration of peace on the border will create space for normalisation of bilateral ties.

He said officials of the two countries will now meet for strategic communication by utilising the available mechanisms, including at the level of the foreign ministers.

Mr Modi assured President Xi of India’s support for China’s presidency of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

In response to a question, Mr Misri said the pact on patrolling arrangements and the meeting between the two leaders had enabled the two countries to begin the journey to normalise bilateral ties.