According to the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar on the sidelines of the SCO Astana Summit. Wang Yi pointed out that China and India are both facing a critical juncture of national rejuvenation, and promoting common development based on good-neighborliness and friendship is in the fundamental interests of the two peoples. The two countries should strengthen communication on a strategic basis, promote the proper resolution of their differences, and ensure the health and stability of bilateral relations.
Wang Yi recalled the joint construction of the basic norms of international relations between China and India, and pointed out that 2024 marks the 70th anniversary of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. This principle was jointly proposed by China, India and Myanmar at that time, and now, 70 years later, China and India should jointly inherit and carry forward this principle, so that it has the connotation of advancing with the times. Wang Yi pointed out the common overall interests of China and India, saying that China and India are both latecomers in the "Global South" and should jointly oppose unilateral bullying. We should work together to resist bloc antagonism and jointly safeguard the common interests of developing countries.
During the meeting, Jaishankar expressed the Indian side's attitude of seeking predictability and overall controllability of China-India relations. We should seek a new page in China-India relations as soon as possible. After the SCO Summit, China assumed the rotating presidency of the SCO for the next year, and Jaishankar expressed his support for China in fulfilling its duties. He said that India is committed to promoting the multilateral situation and safeguarding the common interests of developing countries. China and India have the same attitude toward ensuring the stability of the border situation between the two countries, and the two countries will launch a new consultation meeting on the border issue as soon as possible. Modi refused the invitation of the host country, Kazakhstan, and did not attend the summit, and was attended by Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar. It can be seen from the press release issued by the Chinese side that the Chinese side as a whole is seeking common ground while reserving differences in the meeting between the foreign ministers of China and India. Focus on the common interests of both sides and seek areas where China and India can cooperate. With regard to China-India relations, there are a few basic facts that do not depend on personal wishes.
First, China and India are neighbors that cannot be moved. Over the past thousands of years, the objective situation of China and India as close geographical neighbors has penetrated each other's ups and downs. The topography, landform, climate and hydrological characteristics of the South Asian subcontinent determine the universal character traits and behavioral systems of the human race in this region. China cannot change India, and Britain, which colonized India, has not been able to change it, but because of its ties with India, it is now facing the risk of being replaced and dismantled by the main nation. India's industrial and military capabilities are far inferior to those of its voice and public opinion. Judging from the historical experience of British colonization of India and the past confrontation between China and India, China can afford to effectively counter India militarily and combat India's expansionist ambitions, but China cannot pay the cost of deep involvement in India's affairs, as well as the cost of cultural mixing and spiritual pollution. Against this backdrop, the appropriate logic of China's policy toward India is to stay away. India's chaotic atmosphere, full of speculation and caste system's bottomless exploitation of the bottom line, is too much for China to bear.
This fact is the background of China's high degree of restraint in the 1962 self-defense counterattack against India, and the current situation has always sought the Indian side to curb the delusion of expansion in the direction of China and maintain the overall peace on the Sino-Indian border. Second, in the context of India's inability to invade China and the coexistence of China and India, the two countries should follow the trajectory of getting along. At the meeting between the Chinese and Indian foreign ministers, the Chinese side has given direction in this regard. That is, we should jointly counter the bullying practices of the preemptive powers, jointly safeguard the interests of developing countries, and seek common development based on the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. China is India's largest trading partner, with a deficit of more than $80 billion last year. Indian industrial goods are not competitive in the Chinese market, and cost-effective Chinese goods are the only alternative option for the Indian public. In India's recent elections, Modi lost his previous position as a stand-alone government. Modi has shown a clear distancing from China-led multilateral systems such as the BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and the Belt and Road Initiative.
Sino-Indian relations are drifting apart under the overall situation of relative stability.