On January 26-27, Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri visited Beijing. The official meeting was part of the Foreign Secretary-Vice Foreign Minister mechanism, which was revived after a gap of more than four years due to the border tensions in eastern Ladakh. The talks followed the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Kazan Summit in October 2024, where both leaders agreed to take steps to rebuild ties.
India and China have shown a considerable amount of interest in improving ties due to their own geopolitical understanding of the region and the world. The meeting between India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and China’s Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong in Beijing on January 27 yielded an important outcome that will help both countries in future engagement.
According to the official document, India and China have agreed to resume key people-to-people exchanges, including the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra and direct flight services.
Resumption of Kailash Mansarovar Yatra and Direct Flights
One of the key outcomes of the meeting was the decision to restart the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra in the summer of 2025. This pilgrimage is significant for Indian devotees, and both sides agreed to discuss the necessary arrangements soon.
Additionally, both countries decided to resume direct flights. Technical teams from India and China will now negotiate the terms to restore air connectivity, which had been suspended for several years.
Hydrological Data Sharing and Media Exchanges
India and China also agreed to hold a meeting of the Expert Level Mechanism (ELM) to restart the sharing of hydrological data on trans-border rivers. Under this mechanism, established in 2006, China provides India with hydrological information on the Brahmaputra and Sutlej rivers during flood seasons. India has been particularly concerned about China’s plans to build a massive hydropower dam over the Brahmaputra. Recently, China approved the construction of its most ambitious – and the world’s largest – dam over the Yarlung Zangbo, in Tibet’s Medog county, right before it enters Indian territory. According to the meeting, China will provide important information on this particular dam project near the Indian border.
Another crucial decision was to facilitate journalist exchanges. China currently allows only the PTI news bureau to operate in Beijing, but both sides have now agreed to allow more media houses to reopen their bureaus. Think tanks and academic institutions will also be encouraged to engage in dialogue. It might help academicians, journalists and students to operate openly in China which may lead to a perception change among the people.
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As 2025 marks the 75th anniversary of India-China diplomatic relations, both sides agreed to conduct events to strengthen public diplomacy and restore trust among people. These activities will include cultural exchanges, academic discussions, and think-tank collaborations.
Strengthening Economic and Trade Relations
Discussions also covered economic and trade issues. Both countries agreed to resolve trade-related concerns and work towards long-term policy stability and transparency. They emphasised that restoring trade dialogue will be beneficial for both economies. China, which is holding the rotating presidency of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) this year, received assurance from India that it will fully support its initiatives and actively participate in SCO activities.
India should see it throgh the lens of interest and should be cautious
The latest engagement follows the meeting between Prime Minister Modi and President Xi on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Kazan in October 2024. At that meeting, both leaders agreed to stabilize ties and instructed officials to take concrete steps towards rebuilding relations.
Since then, there have been multiple diplomatic interactions, including discussions on resolving border tensions and improving trade relations. However, this was the first high-level official visit after the Kazan Summit, signalling a shift towards positive engagement.
Observing all the developments between India and China, foreign policy analysts and scholars have shown positive interpretations of these events and have analysed that it is for strengthening strategic communication and promoting mutual trust. Chinese aggressive behaviour under the leadership of Xi has not yielded the desired result rather China has started an intensified conflict with its neighbours in the South China Sea and the Himalayas. Hence, created more enemies than friends around its border. The recent realignment in Chinese behaviour is nothing but understanding its situation and preserving its interests.
India should be cautious in dealing with China due to previous experiences that India had with China in the initial years of their nationhood.