Chinese leader Xi Jinping told India’s Narendra Modi the “right choice” is for their countries to be friends as the two met in China for first time in seven years – a new milestone in a nascent rapprochement between the world’s most populous nations accelerated by shared frictions with the United States.
Xi and Modi’s highly-anticipated meeting Sunday, on the sidelines of a regional summit in the eastern port city of Tianjin, comes as both nations face stiff US tariffs under President Donald Trump’s global trade war, as well as Western scrutiny over their relationships with Russia as the war in Ukraine grinds on.
“The world today is swept by once-in-a-century transformations,” Xi told Modi in opening remarks, as both leaders sat face-to-face flanked by their officials. “The international situation is both fluid and chaotic,” he added.
“It is the right choice for both sides to be friends who have good neighborly and amicable ties, partners who enable each other’s success, and to have the dragon and the elephant dance together,” Xi said, referring to traditional symbols of the two nations. Modi said India was “committed” to taking their countries’ relations forward “on the basis of mutual trust and respect,” and referenced their bettering of ties, including an easing of tensions along their disputed Himalayan border – where the two fought a deadly skirmish in 2020.
“The interests of 2.8 billion people in both our countries are tied to our cooperation,” he added. Trump earlier this month levied significant economic penalties on India, initially placing its imports into the US under 25% tariffs and then slapping an additional 25% duties on the country as punishment for importing Russian oil and gas, which Washington sees as helping to fund Putin’s war in Ukraine. Both China and India are major purchasers of Russian oil, though China has yet to be targeted with such measures.
Modi said he spoke with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky Saturday and “exchanged views on the ongoing conflict.” India has previously said it does not take sides in the war.
Source: Here