India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar has visited China for the first time in nearly five years, signaling cautious optimism in relations between the two Asian powers following years of military and diplomatic tension along their disputed Himalayan border.
Jaishankar arrived in Beijing on Monday, July 14, and met with Chinese Vice President Han Zheng before traveling to Tianjin to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) foreign ministers’ summit on Tuesday.
The visit marks a key diplomatic moment in a relationship that has seen persistent strain since the 2020 clashes in Ladakh, where 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers were killed, triggering a freeze in high-level exchanges and a hardening of military positions.
“The international situation, as we meet today, is very complex,” Jaishankar said during his meeting with Han. “As neighboring countries and major economies, open exchanges between India and China are essential.”
According to a Chinese Foreign Ministry readout, Han described the two countries as “major developing countries and important members of the Global South,” and called for “mutual respect” and “pragmatic cooperation” to ensure “stable and healthy development” in bilateral ties.
The visit follows a border patrolling agreement reached in October 2024, which facilitated military disengagement in key flashpoints. The agreement was widely seen as a breakthrough in efforts to de-escalate one of the most serious India-China border standoffs in decades.
That same month, President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi held their first in-person talks since the 2020 clashes, meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia.
In Beijing, Jaishankar also met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who said that the “essence” of the relationship lies in “how to live in harmony and achieve mutual success.”
“The two sides should stand on high ground and seek long-term strategies,” Wang said. “Our relations are not aimed at any third party and should not be interfered with by any third party.”
Wang urged both countries to replace suspicion with trust, and competition with cooperation — a statement reflecting Beijing’s broader unease over New Delhi’s growing alignment with the United States and other Quad members.
According to a statement from India’s Ministry of External Affairs, Jaishankar emphasized the “positive impact of peace and tranquility along the border” on broader bilateral relations. He also raised concerns over “restrictive trade measures” and barriers to economic cooperation.
The Indian minister specifically called for the resumption of hydrological data sharing across trans-boundary rivers, a point of contention in India-China water diplomacy, especially during monsoon seasons.
China hosted the SCO defense ministers’ meeting in Qingdao last month, which ended without a joint communiqué after Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh declined to endorse the final statement. Still, both sides have maintained diplomatic channels in what analysts see as an attempt to manage friction while seeking limited cooperation.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization, founded in 2001, now includes 10 member states, including China, India, Russia, Iran, and several Central Asian republics. The summit in Tianjin focused on regional security, connectivity, and economic integration — areas where India and China have often found common ground despite underlying strategic mistrust.
