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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping had a "healthy" and "fruitful" bilateral meeting at Xiamen in China on Tuesday and agreed to avoid another Doklam-like border row. This was the first one-on-one meeting between Modi and Xi after the over two-month-long stand-off between the two armies at Doklam in the Sikkim section of the border. In the over one hour meeting after the conclusion of the 9th BRICS Summit, both leaders discussed the need to maintain peace and tranquility on their border.
"Met President Xi Jinping. We held fruitful talks on bilateral relations between India and China," Modi tweeted later. The Indian leader thanked the Chinese government and the people for their "warm hospitality" during the three-day BRICS Summit and said he was leaving for Myanmar. On his part, Xi said "healthy and stable relations" between China and India were in line with the fundamental interests of their people.
"China is willing to work with India on the basis of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence to improve political mutual trust, promote mutually beneficial cooperation and push Sino-Indian ties along a right track," he told Modi. In his opening remarks at the meeting, Modi congratulated Xi for the "very successful" execution of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) Summit. Xi also told Modi that "healthy and stable bilateral ties (were) in line with fundamental interests of the two nations". India's foreign secretary S Jaishankar described the Xi-Modi meet as "forward-looking" and "constructive".
"I think one of the important points which was made in the meeting was that peace and tranquility in the border areas was a prerequisite for further development of the bilateral relationship." Jaishankar said both the leaders agreed that "more efforts should be made to really enhance and strengthen the mutual level of trust between the two sides. "It is natural that between large powers there would be areas of difference and it should be handled with mutual respect.
"Efforts should be made to find common ground in those areas... The defence and security personnel must maintain strong contact and cooperation and ensure that the sort of situation which happened recently should not recur," Jaishankar said.
The stand-off between Indian and Chinese troops began in June at Doklam, an area disputed by Bhutan and China. India said the Chinese decision to build a road in the area impacted New Delhi's strategic interests. Indian troops entered the area and stopped the Chinese road work, angering Beijing. The border row seriously affected Sino-Indian relations until the two countries settled the issue by recalling their troops from Doklam last month.
Jaishankar said: "Both of us (India and China) know what happened. So, this was no backward looking conversation, this was forward looking conversation." Asked if Modi raised the issue of sanctions against Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar and terrorism emanating from Pakistan, Jaishankar said these were not discussed.
Pak-based terror groups named in BRICS declaration
In a diplomatic victory for India, for the first time, Pakistan-based terror groups like the LeT and the JeM were named in the Summit declaration of the BRICS countries that also asserted that those responsible for committing, organising or supporting terror acts must be held accountable.
Prime Minister Modi was joined by Chinese President, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Brazilian President Michael Temer and South African President Jacob Zuma in strongly denouncing terror activities of such groups, as they expressed determination to collectively fight the scourge.
The 43-page 'Xiamen Declaration', adopted at the end of the five-nation BRICS plenary, stressed on the need for immediate cessation of violence in Afghanistan. It expressed "concern" over the security situation in the region and the violence caused by the Taliban, ISIS, al-Qaeda and its affiliates including Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, the Haqqani network, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Hizb ut-Tahrir.
At the ninth Summit of the grouping, the BRICS leaders also condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations wherever committed and by whomsoever. They stressed that there can be no justification whatsoever for any act of terrorism.
"We reaffirm that those responsible for committing, organising, or supporting terrorist acts must be held accountable," the statement said. Highlighting the primary leading role and responsibility of states in preventing and countering terrorism, the grouping emphasised on the necessity to develop international cooperation, in accordance with the principles of international law, including that of sovereign equality of states and non-interference in their internal affairs.
According to officials, Modi raised the issue of terrorism strongly at the summit and was joined by other leaders, who expressed willingness to fight this menace. "For the first time specific listing of terror organisations has been made (in the BRICS declaration)," Secretary (East) in the external affairs ministry Preeti Saran told reporters.
The inclusion of Pakistan-based terror groups in the declaration is also significant as it indicated a slight shift in the Chinese view towards terror groups operating out of Pakistan. Ahead of the BRICS Summit, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson had said, "We noticed that India, when it comes to Pakistan's counter-terrorism, has some concerns. I don't think this is an appropriate topic to be discussed at the BRICS Summit."
During the last BRICS Summit in Goa, China did not allow inclusion of Pakistan-based terror groups in the declaration despite the fact that the Summit was taking place within weeks of the Uri terror strike carried out by a Pakistan-based militant group.
