From a new border agreement to resuming direct flights and deepening economic cooperation, China and India appear to be entering a new diplomatic chapter following Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s first visit to New Delhi in three years.
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There could be a further thaw in ties when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi travels to Tianjin at the end of the month – his first trip to China in seven years – for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit, when he could also meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
But analysts say challenges remain and any improvement in the relationship might be limited given the mutual distrust between the two neighbours and Beijing potentially seeing New Delhi’s overtures as “opportunism” at a time when Washington has stepped up tariff pressure.
During Wang’s two-day visit to New Delhi this week, the two sides agreed to start talks on their eastern and middle border sectors, in addition to talks on the western Himalayan border that have been under way since a deadly clash between Chinese and Indian troops in the Galwan Valley in 2020.
Indian media also reported that Beijing had cleared rare earth exports to India, a strategic move given the pivotal role of the minerals for China in its trade war with the United States.
Harsh Pant, a professor of international relations at King’s College London, said New Delhi and Beijing had been pushed to engage by “a lot of factors”.