'From confrontation to conversation': Shashi Tharoor says Modi-Xi engagement marks timely pivot in India-China ties

The unmissable display of their deepest convergences was one of the main highlights during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to China- his first in seven years,
in the shadow of the border stand-off and the deepening chill in the US.

In a column in The Indian Express, Senior Congress leader and Lok Sabha member Shashi Tharoor, reflecting on the changing dynamics of global diplomacy, says although the meeting between PM Narendra Modi and Chinese premier Xi Jinping on the sidelines of SCO summit may not be spoken of for its deliverables, but it successfully underlined a 'pragmatic tilt' signifying a visible change in tack in ties between New Delhi and Beijing -- "a deliberate pivot from confrontation to conversation".

Tharoor observes that in the ever-shifting theatre of international diplomacy, moments of quiet recalibration often speak louder than grand pronouncements. The former diplomat, stating how the scope for engagement has been increasing since the Galwan skirmish, writes, " Five years ago, the tragic loss of 20 Indian lives in the Galwan Valley cast a long shadow over Sino-Indian relations. The border, unresolved and volatile, became a metaphor for the broader diplomatic freeze. Trade slowed, flights ceased, and the spirit of “Chindia” — that hopeful portmanteau coined in headier times to capture the promise of Asian synergy — was shelved in surrender to strategic suspicion. But today, the machinery of engagement is whirring once more."

"The symbolism is unmistakable. Indian pilgrims have returned to Hindu and Buddhist sites in Tibet. Direct flights are resuming. Visa restrictions are easing. Patrolling has resumed on our disputed frontier. Both nations are orchestrating a flurry of high-level exchanges to formalise the thaw. These gestures, though modest, are not without meaning. They signal a shared intent to move beyond the recriminations of the past and to reimagine a relationship that has too often been defined by its fault lines," adds Tharoor.