China reacts to 'secret diplomacy' with India, pushes for stronger ties amid tariff turmoil

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping

China said improving ties with India is in the interest of both countries, and the two sides have taken steps to steadily stabilize relations after a meeting between President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year.

“The improvement of Sino-Indian relations is a common interest for both countries, as well as the result of joint efforts by both sides,” China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Friday in a written reply to questions. There was no “secret diplomacy” between the two countries, only “normal communication and interaction,” it said.

Bloomberg News reported Thursday that Beijing made a quiet outreach to New Delhi in March to test the waters on improving ties. Xi wrote a letter to his Indian counterpart Droupadi Murmu expressing concern about any US deals that would harm China’s interests, an official in New Delhi familiar with the matter said.

China’s Foreign Ministry said Friday that Xi’s meeting with Modi in Kazan, Russia in October last year led to a restart in relations.

“The competent authorities of China and India have earnestly implemented the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, promoted the resumption of institutional dialogue and conducted normal exchanges,” it said.

The rapprochement between Beijing and New Delhi has accelerated since then, with the two sides taking steps to end a border standoff and Modi making his first trip to China in seven years this weekend. Both countries have been stung by President Donald Trump’s trade war, with India this week slapped with 50% tariffs on its exports to the US.

“China stands ready to work with India to view and handle China-India relations from a strategic and long-term perspective,” the country’s Foreign Ministry said in its statement.

Modi is expected to hold a bilateral meeting with Xi on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, a regional economic and security summit, taking place in Tianjin on Aug. 31-Sept. 1.

The Indian prime minister said he “remains committed to working with the SCO members to address shared challenges and deepen regional cooperation,” according to a statement Thursday. He’s also scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the SCO summit.

In a Friday editorial, state-run tabloid Global Times said the warming of ties between the two nations made strategic and economic sense and was related to “profound changes in the global geopolitical landscape.”

“Today, as the ‘twin engines’ of Asia’s economic growth, key representatives of the Global South, and members of the SCO, BRICS, and the G20, China and India share a mission to push the international order toward greater democracy and fairness,” the newspaper said.