Sunday, 13 Oct, 2024
By: Yash Gupte
India and China are the most discussed as the leaders of the two neighboring countries- Narendra Modi and Xi Jingping tend to meet for the first time since the Galwan conflict in the Ladakh sector in 2020.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summitundergoing in the city of Samarkand, Uzbekistan amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war has caught the attention of the whole world. Among all the countries, India and China are the most discussed as the leaders of the two neighboring countries- Narendra Modi and Xi Jingping tend to meet for the first time since the Galwan conflict in the Ladakh sector in 2020. The prime minister will also hold bilateral talks with Russian premier Vladimir Putin, Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Iranian President Ebrahim Rais.
The meeting between Chinese President Xi Jingping and Narendra Modi is expected to happen only after the disengagement of troops from the Patrolling Point (PP) 15 in the Gogra Hot Springs region in the Ladakh Sector earlier this week. Modi and Xi haven’t come across each other since the Galwan clash of 2020 but this doesn’t mean that the two countries are cut off from each other diplomatically and economically. India and China recently held the 16th commander level talks in which the two neighbors broke the ice and finally reached the decision of disengagement in the Gogra Hot Springs.
Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra in a press conference on Thursday said that PM will have bilateral meetings with his counterparts from different countries but preferred not to comment on the one-on-one meeting with Xi Jingping. China has also not yet confirmed any meeting between Xi and Modi. Before departing for the SCO summit in Samarkand, Modi said that he will focus on exchanging views on regional and international issues, the expansion of SCO and further deepening of multifaceted and mutually beneficial cooperation within the Organization.
New Delhi will be holding the presidency of the organization for a year till September 2023 which means that India will host the next year’s SCO summit which will be attended by China, Pakistan and other member states. The SCO consists of 8 permanent members which includes China, India, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Pakistan.
Will SCO summit break the ice between the two Asian giants?
The SCO summit has brought the leaders of India and China on the common platform for the first time in two years. While the both the countries had a bittersweet relationship, things turned bad to worse after both the countries clashed in Ladakh in June 2020. Though there was resentment against China in India, with ‘Boycott China’ calls being popular in the country, the bilateral trade increased to a record high of $115.83 billion in 2021-22. This was a growth of 34.06%.
The chart given below provides insights on the bilateral trade in last five years between New Delhi and Beijing.
Source: Ministry of Commerce and Industry
The bilateral trade between India and China was recorded at $89.71 billion in 2017-18 which declined to $87.07 billion in 2018-19. There was a further decline in the bilateral trade between New Delhi and Beijing in 2019-20 as the trade was reported at $81.87 billion. This was the lowest in last five years. In spite of the covid-19 pandemic and the disruption in global supply chain the trade between both the neighbors increased to $86.39 billion from previous year’s $81.87 billion. While there is an informal boycott of Chinese goods in India, the increase in bilateral trade and diplomatic engagements show a different story.
The data shows that in spite of all the ups and downs between New Delhi and Beijing, the economic and diplomatic relations unaffected. There have been diplomatic, economic and cultural engagements between the two countries in spite of a border conflict.
