In the past few days, the situation in the world has been changing dramatically at a speed that is visible to the naked eye, and our largest neighbor to the west has actually brought good news to China. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently said that India-China relations are very important and significant, saying that the two sides urgently need to resolve the long-standing border issue. This news was confirmed by China's new ambassador to India, Xu Feihong, who said that the two militaries had disengaged at four points in the western section of the border, and that they were generally stable and controllable. So, what does it mean that China and India are releasing a positive signal at this juncture?
To understand this issue, we have to look back at the twists and turns in Sino-Indian relations over the past few years. Since the outbreak of the conflict between China and India in the Galwan Valley, the Modi government has suffered from the heart disease of "opposing China whenever it encounters it", not only the confrontation between the two countries' national sentiments has reached its peak, but even some commercial cooperation has been inexplicably targeted and stopped by the Indian side. If there is any country in the world today that is most reluctant to see China's rise, the United States is the first, and India can be the second. But at present, Modi has not only released goodwill towards China, but also made a substantial withdrawal of troops, and the change in wind direction may be interpreted from Putin's decision to visit China.
It is not surprising that Putin can win the 2024 Russian presidential election, but it is quite intriguing that he was successfully elected and chose to visit China without stopping after reshuffling the government. In the past, the first stop of the new Russian president was to choose countries that have an important geopolitical role for Russia, usually the CIS countries, such as Belarus and Kazakhstan. After Putin's election this time, his visit to China was a little "hurried", which made the Indian media a little surprised, but it also reflected a new trend, that is, the world's trust in China is incomparable to India.
Since independence, India has always taken it as its mission to "set an example for third world countries", but in recent years, India's course has shifted. Either they went to the G7 meeting as an observer state and discussed how to be an oil and gas broker. Either it is to bully and bully a few small surrounding countries and dream of a hegemon in South Asia. On the contrary, on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and other major issues, he has made some unbelievable remarks, which show great signs of "stabbing developing countries in the back."
Comparing China's contribution to developing countries, its stance on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and especially its diplomatic progress with several South Asian countries, India feels a little "off the altar". The reason why India chose to move closer to the West and did not lean towards the Sino-Russian camp was that Modi felt that the economic structure between China, Russia and India was similar, and his own low domestic labor costs were just enough to attract American and European capital. Unexpectedly, India's business environment is unbearable even for Chinese companies in the sea, let alone white people who are used to being pampered? Showing goodwill to China again may be a new beginning.
Now that India's general election is approaching again, Modi has a bunch of bad things to deal with, and such a thorny and sensitive issue as the Sino-Indian border will naturally be put on hold for the time being, so as not to cause complications. Moreover, given that China and India have similar positions on areas such as food security and climate change, and India has a strong interest in the multilateral order, Modi has no reason to be paranoid and insist on going his own way. On the eve of Putin's visit to China, Modi gave this big gift, which indicates that there may be a new stage in Sino-Indian relations, but whether this stage is stable or better depends on the after-effects. Naturally, the Chinese side has also shown considerable sincerity, and the fact that Chinese Ambassador to India Xu Feihong has taken off his new post shows that the Chinese side attaches great importance to Sino-Indian bilateral relations.