At the recent meeting of the defense ministers of the SCO member states in Kazakhstan, Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun was invited to attend, and the Ministry of Defense said in a press release that Dong Jun will make a speech at the conference and meet with the heads of delegations of "interested countries". There are nine member states of the SCO, including China, but at the end of the trip, Defense Minister Dong Jun met with the other seven defense ministers, but ignored the Indian defense minister.
According to Singapore's Lianhe Zaobao, during his visit to Kazakhstan, Dong Jun held separate talks with the seven defense ministers and exchanged views on the current international and regional situation, the relations between the two countries and the two militaries, and issues of common concern. It stands to reason that India and China have been fighting for the border for many years, and they have more common topics on the regional situation and the relations between the two militaries, but Dong Jun has made a rare foreign visit and has not met Indian Defense Minister Manmohan Singh, and the Chinese side has not said anything, and it seems that he has said everything.
Some time ago, India continued to make small moves on the Sino-Indian border, the Indian army deployed 10,000 new soldiers, and Prime Minister Modi went to southern Tibet to attend the unveiling ceremony of the Sera Tunnel and other projects, laying endless troubles for India to transfer large troops and large armaments to the border. The United States has openly supported India's claims, claiming that the so-called "Arunachal Pradesh" is part of India, and has also expressed "strong opposition" to China's territorial claims. As soon as India and the United States sang and harmonized, the tension between the Sino-Indian border almost seemed to return to 2020.
At the 21st round of military commander-level talks in February, the two sides reached a consensus and agreed to "reach a mutually acceptable solution as soon as possible and turn the border situation around." While the Chinese side is still trying its best to show goodwill, India has repeatedly jumped sideways, repeatedly provoked trouble at the border, shouted "proposition", undermined mutual trust between the two countries, and cooperated with the United States to destabilize the regional situation and escalate regional security risks. It is only natural for China to let India reflect on itself.
Unexpectedly, China's move reaped unexpected results, and Indian Defense Minister Manmohan Singh took the initiative to show goodwill to China. A few days ago, Singh expressed his stance on Sino-Indian relations at a Bharatiya Janata Party support rally, saying that he "hopes to maintain good relations with neighboring countries." He pointed out that the talks between China and India are being held smoothly and that the two sides are discussing in a good atmosphere. Interestingly, he also reiterated the commitment made by the Indian side to maintain peace on the border during the talks in February this year.
It is not difficult to understand that the BJP's landslide victory in the general election has a lot to do with Modi's efforts to promote the development of nationalism during his tenure. But this trick is a good card in cultivating loyal voters, but it has become a "lifeline" in foreign policy, such as the murder of a Sikh citizen in Canada, and the boiling public opinion in the country forced Modi to be tough, which in turn almost triggered a diplomatic incident between India and Canada.
The Modi government could not accept that the same thing was happening in the border dispute between China and India, and in order to avoid a situation in which it would be difficult to ride a tiger, India sent a positive signal to China. In fact, before the start of India's general election, Modi himself had taken the lead in lowering his posture, saying that relations with China are very important, and China and India urgently need to resolve the long-standing border situation so that bilateral interaction will not be affected. Singh's overtures to China are a continuation of Modi's weakness and a microcosm of India's overall shift toward China.
Prior to 2020, China-India relations were at a peak when the leaders of the two countries met informally in Chennai to plan the celebration of the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations. However, after 2020, India's China strategy has changed due to the US "Indo-Pacific strategy", which has led to a sharp decline in relations between the two countries. Therefore, Dong Jun's diplomatic moves during his visit to Kazakhstan triggered such a strong reaction from the Indian side.
The Chinese side has always maintained that the border issue is not the whole story of China-India relations, and since the Indian side has taken the initiative to show goodwill, it believes that there will be good news on the border in the near future.