Modi–Xi Talks: Partnership Pledges, Distrust Persists

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On the sidelines of the SCO Summit in Tianjin, PM Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged peace, trade, and multipolarity.

By TRH Global Affairs Desk

NEW DELHI, August 31, 2025 —When Prime Minister Narendra Modi sat down with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Tianjin on Sunday, the optics were of two Asian giants determined to bury the hatchet. Both leaders invoked the language of partnership, stressing that India and China were “development partners, not rivals,” and that “differences must not turn into disputes.”

Modi and XI met for the first time after the Kazan Summit in Russia last year. The Prime Minister mentioned the Kazan agreement at the leadership level to take forward bilateral relations in new spirit.

“Had a fruitful meeting with President Xi Jinping in Tianjin on the sidelines of the SCO Summit. We reviewed the positive momentum in India-China relations since our last meeting in Kazan. We agreed on the importance of maintaining peace and tranquility in border areas and reaffirmed our commitment to cooperation based on mutual respect, mutual interest and mutual sensitivity,” Modi posted on X after his meeting with Xi.

But behind the diplomatic choreography at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit, the shadows of past clashes continue to loom large.

The two leaders expressed satisfaction over “successful disengagement” at the border last year and reaffirmed commitment to a “fair and reasonable” boundary settlement. Yet, the Ladakh standoff since 2020 remains far from forgotten, and the so-called peace holds only because both militaries remain heavily deployed across a fragile frontier. Modi’s reminder that “peace and tranquility on the border” is a prerequisite for relations was as much a diplomatic plea as a veiled warning.

Trade too remains an asymmetry hard to ignore. India’s deficit with China is one of its deepest—crossing $100 billion annually—and while both leaders underlined the need to “expand bilateral trade and investment ties,” there was little to suggest Beijing is willing to meaningfully address structural imbalances.

On people-to-people ties, the announcement of resuming the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, restoring direct flights, and easing visas signals a thaw. Yet these gestures mask the broader reality: India has steadily curtailed Chinese investments in its tech and telecom sectors since 2020, citing security concerns, while Beijing has tightened its grip on South Asia through Belt and Road projects.

Geopolitically, the joint invocation of “multipolar Asia” and “strategic autonomy” may sound like convergence, but it belies deep divergences. For Beijing, multipolarity is a polite code for eroding US influence. For New Delhi, it means resisting both Chinese hegemony and Western overreach. Modi was categorical that India–China ties should “not be seen through a third-country lens”—a nudge at Washington, but also a hedge against Beijing’s Moscow-first tilt.

Symbolically, Modi’s support for China’s SCO presidency and Xi’s acceptance of his invitation to the BRICS 2026 Summit in India suggest continuity. But whether symbolism can substitute for structural trust is the unresolved question.

For now, Tianjin’s grand summit halls echoed with the language of cooperation. But as history shows, India–China summits often leave more unsaid than agreed. The border remains tense, the trade gap gaping, and the rivalry very much alive—despite the rhetoric of brotherhood.

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