"Relationship with China improving since October 2024": Ex-diplomat Vikas Swarup

New Delhi [India], August 30 : Former diplomat Vikas Swarup on Friday spoke about India-China relations, recalling that the process of improvement had begun in October 2024 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Kazan.

"Relationship with China had started improving since October 2024 when the PM met President Xi Jinping in Kazan, and the decisions that they took, the eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation that was happening at the border is not good; there should be some kind of disengagement. So, I think that is happening," Swarup told ANI.

He added that Beijing also appeared keen on improving ties. "China also wants to improve relations with India...At the end of the day, China is also a neighbour of ours. We cannot have a situation where even direct flights are suspended between the two countries, visas are not being given, journalists are no longer reporting from each other's country," he noted.

"So, hopefully, these things will set into process the process of normalisation which has been ongoing. But at the end of the day, we have to ensure that China continues to follow the principles that we have articulated, that relations between India and China can only be based on mutual respect, on mutual sensitivity and mutual interest," the former diplomat added.

Echoing the sentiment of strengthening ties, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his interview with The Yomiuri Shimbun on Friday, said that his visit to China is an ode to the steady bilateral ties with the nation. He underlined that the steady ties with China are essential for peace in the Indo-Pacific region.

"At the invitation of President Xi Jinping, I will be travelling to Tianjin from here to take part in the SCO Summit. Since my meeting with President Xi in Kazan last year, steady and positive progress has been made in our bilateral ties," he said in a written response to an interview for The Yomiuri Shimbun.

PM Modi said that good relations between the neighbours will have a positive impact on the prosperity of the region.

"Stable, predictable, and amicable bilateral relations between India and China, as two neighbours and the two largest nations on earth, can have a positive impact on regional and global peace and prosperity," he said.

PM Modi said that stable India-China relations was also essential for the multipolar world, given the volatility.

"This is also crucial for a multi-polar Asia and a multi-polar world. Given the current volatility in world economy, it is also important for India and China, as two major economies, to work together to bring stability to the world economic order. India is ready to advance bilateral relations from a strategic and long-term perspective on the basis of mutual respect, mutual interest and mutual sensitivity, and to enhance strategic communication to address our developmental challenges," he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi departed from Delhi on Thursday for a two-day official visit to Japan, scheduled from August 29 to 30, to attend the 15th India-Japan Annual Summit.

Following his Japan leg, the Prime Minister will head to China for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit in Tianjin.

"From Japan, I will travel to China to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit in Tianjin, at the invitation of President Xi Jinping. India is an active and constructive member of the SCO. During our Presidency, we have introduced new ideas and initiated collaboration in the fields of innovation, health and cultural exchanges," PM Modi said in his departing statement.

During his China visit PM Modi will hold two crucial bilateral meetings, one with the Chinese Premier Xi Jinping and one with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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