As soon as the SCO summit ended, the absence of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi became a focus of attention of various countries. Naturally, China will not be accustomed to Modi's unruly behavior. In front of Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar, Foreign Minister Wang Yi directly put forward five key words for the relations between the two countries.
Wang Yi meets Jaishankar
Recently, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in full swing came to an end in Kazakhstan. The summit focused on the prospects for the development of the SCO's multi-faceted multilateral cooperation, with a focus on the work of the SCO member states in the fields of politics, security and trade.
At the summit, the member states not only accepted Belarus, increasing the number of full SCO members to double digits, but also achieved a number of new results.
At the end of the meeting, 25 outcome documents, including the Astana Declaration, were signed and published, and the prospects for the development of the organization in various fields were carefully planned.
However, India, as one of the official member states, only sent Foreign Minister S Jaishankar to the meeting, and Modi himself did not show up. In this regard, some analysts believe that Modi's absence means that India is downplaying the importance of the SCO summit and staying away from the SCO.
On this occasion, both the Chinese side and Putin have maintained a tacit understanding and have not set aside time to meet with the Indian representative. But for the leaders of other countries, almost all of them. However, standing with the leaders of various countries, Jaishankar, as the foreign minister, is somewhat timid. In the group photo session, Jaishankar even turned his face sideways at one point and did not look at the camera.
Putin also did not leave time to meet Jaishankar
However, Wang Yi, who is also the foreign minister, still gave Jaishankar a "chance". During the summit, a round of meetings was held with him. But inside and outside of the words, Wang Yi was not too polite.
In the presence of Jaishankar, Wang Yi directly pointed out that China and India should take a serious view of bilateral relations from a strategic perspective, strengthen communication activities between the two countries, and properly handle differences, so as to ensure that bilateral relations can continue to develop along a healthy and stable track.
Immediately afterwards, Foreign Minister Wang Yi also specifically mentioned five key words. He pointed out that China and India should follow the previous consensus and explore the right way for the two countries to get along on the basis of "mutual respect, mutual understanding, mutual trust, mutual care and mutual achievement". And these five "mutuals" can be regarded as planning a big framework for getting along with China and India in the future.
And in this kind of field where Modi does not come, Jaishankar did not dare to make a big statement. Following Wang Yi's words, Jaishankar also actively stated that China and India should strengthen ties in the diplomatic and military fields and hold consultations on the border issue as soon as possible.
At the same time, the two sides should also step up their efforts to completely disengage the two armies that are facing each other in the Ladakh region on the Sino-Indian border and restore the "normalization" of relations between the two countries. This meeting was also the first formal meeting between the foreign ministers of China and India after a lapse of more than a year.
It is worth noting that the tone of Jaishankar's statement this time is somewhat softened compared to when he was re-elected as foreign minister last month. At that time, Jaishankar said "conclusively" that the border issue between China and India is a key issue of India's current concern and a key to China-India relations. Clearly, to this day, Jaishankar still wants to tie the border dispute to the relationship between the two countries.
External Affairs Minister of India S Jaishankar
Earlier, Jaishankar even claimed that if China wants to ease Sino-Indian relations, China must make concessions on the border issue. The Indian side has even used this as a reason to crack down on Chinese companies investing in India, and has also seized the qualification documents of many Chinese companies. After all, the main responsibility for the delay in resolving the Sino-Indian border issue lies with the Indian side.
On this occasion, Jaishankar's statement at the SCO is actually equivalent to bowing his head to the Chinese side. To some extent, this can be regarded as a step down for Modi's non-appearance.
However, Modi's mind may not be so simple. In the past decade, Modi has missed four SCO summits, nearly half of them. Although some Indian media analyzed that Modi was unable to take a break because of his busy domestic schedule, for a summit of this level of the SCO, this statement is quite far-fetched and untenable.
In fact, Modi's absence may have been due to two reasons. First of all, judging from the current development trends, China's "dominant position" in the SCO is becoming more and more solid, and China's "One Belt, One Road" initiative is also playing an increasingly important role in the SCO.
However, India has always regarded China as its "biggest imaginary enemy", and the Modi government naturally did not want to see such a situation, so it simply missed the summit.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
On the other hand, the SCO and the Western "coterie" and military blocs are at odds with each other. In the context of the intensification of the US and Western suppression, this "anti-Western" trend within the SCO is also intensifying.
However, since taking office, Modi has wanted to implement a "two-pronged" policy. Therefore, while joining the SCO, BRICS and other organizations, he is also leading India to actively develop cooperation with Western countries.
Not long ago, Modi, who had just been re-elected, went to Italy to attend the G7 summit, and he may also attend the NATO summit to be held later, which is not the same as the SCO's tendencies.
Now, it can be seen from Foreign Minister Wang Yi's unceremonious remarks that there is no need for China to give India too much face when Modi does not abide by the rules. If Jaishankar's statement is sincere, then China and India still have opportunities for in-depth communication, but if the Modi government insists on going its own way, China will not remain indifferent.