As Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping prepare for an upcoming meeting, a report has surfaced claiming that Xi sent a ‘secret’ letter to President Droupadi Murmu in March.
PM Modi will be in China on the invitation of President Xi to attend the SCO Summit after concluding his two-day visit to Japan. Meanwhile, the Bloomberg report cited an Indian official who anonymously shared information about the letter.
The report claimed that in the letter, China wanted to “test the waters” on improving ties and also expressed concern about any US deals that would harm China’s interests. The Chinese leader also named “a provincial official who would steer Beijing’s efforts.”
What’s The Truth Behind China’s Letter?
The letter described as ‘secret’ in the Bloomberg report was, in fact, a routine protocol message that is exchanged between the top leaders on national days.
Chinese Ambassador to India, Xu Feihong, in a post on X dated April 1, informed that the Chinese President exchanged congratulatory messages with President Murmu on the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and India.
The Ambassador also added that President Xi expressed his readiness to work with President Murmu to promote strategic mutual trust, strengthen exchanges and cooperation in various fields, deepen communication and coordination on major international affairs, and jointly safeguard peace and tranquility in the India-China border regions.
“President Xi pointed out that China and India are both ancient civilizations, major developing countries and important members of Global South. Both countries are at a critical stage in their respective modernization drive. The development of China-India relations demonstrates that it is the right choice for both sides to become partners for mutual success and realize a cooperative pas de deux of the dragon and the elephant, which completely serves the fundamental interests of the two countries and peoples,” his post read.
“Both sides should view and handle China-India relations from a strategic and long-term perspective, and seek ways for neighboring major countries to get along in peaceful coexistence, mutual trust and mutual benefit, and common development, and jointly push forward world multipolarization and democracy in international relations,” it added.
Feihong also stated that President Murmu said that India and China are two neighbours who represent a “third of humanity.”
PM Modi In China
The two leaders would conduct a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Tianjin on Sunday.
This will be PM Modi’s first visit to China in the last seven years and the first since the Galwan Valley faceoff in June 2020 between the soldiers of the two countries at the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
Both leaders had held a meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Russia’s Kazan in 2024.
As per IANS, on August 21, China’s Ambassador to India Xu Feihong asserted that PM Modi’s visit to Tianjin for the SCO Summit will give a fresh impetus to the improvement and development of relations between both countries.
On August 19, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called on Prime Minister Modi in New Delhi.
What Is SCO?
The SCO is a permanent intergovernmental international organisation established in Shanghai on June 15, 2001.
The member states include: China, Russia, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Iran, and Belarus.
Moreover, the SCO has two observer states: Afghanistan and Mongolia, and 14 dialogue partners, including Turkey, Kuwait, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, Bahrain, the Maldives, Myanmar and the United Arab Emirates.
