As India-China Ties Turn 75, New Delhi Reminds Beijing Of “Lessons” Learnt

Here are the key highlights of the foreign secretary’s speech:

1. Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri was the chief guest at the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi, which organised an event to celebrate 75 years of establishing India-China ties. Chinese Ambassador Xu Feihong and the Indian Foreign Secretary cut a cake on the occasion before speaking about the relations between the two Asian giants.
2. In his nearly seven-minute speech, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri highlighted the “lessons” for both nations to keep in mind in order to foster stronger ties. He began his speech by saying, “Even tough, as modern nation states, we have had only 75 years of formal ties, India and China have shared cultural and civilizational ties and people-to-people contacts going back millenia.”
3. He spoke about significant “contributions by personalities such as Bodhidharma, Kumarajiva, Xuanzang, and Rabindranath Tagore,” towards fostering historical India-China relations. He added that “Our two civilizations have, each in their own unique way, played a significant role in shaping human history. This holds a lesson for contemporary ties.”
4. Speaking about the second lesson, Mr Misri said, “In the last few years, India-China relations have gone through a difficult phase. But largely, due to the guidance by our leaders, and untiring efforts by the political leadership, military leaders, and diplomatic colleagues, who maintained communications throughout this time, our two countries have resolved several issues along the border areas. This too, holds a lesson for us (China and India) – which is that peace and tranquility in the border areas is critical for the smooth development of our overall bilateral relations.”
5. He went on to say that “It is on the basis of this fundamental understanding, which was shared in the meeting between PM Modi and President Xi Jinping in Russia, that both nations are now working together to chart a roadmap for our bilateral relations, to return to a stable, predictable, and amicable path.”
6. Sharing specifics about the efforts made at the political, military, and diplomatic levels, the foreign secretary highlighted that “In the last 5 months, we have had two meetings between the foreign ministers – in November, 2024 and February 2025. Our Special Representatives (SRs) for the India-China boundary question met in Beijing in December, 2024 for the 23rd round of SR-level talks. After a gap of nearly five years, our Defence Minister met with his Chinese counterpart in November, 2024, and I (foreign secretary) had the opportunity to visit Beijing in January, 2025 and had a very productive meeting with my counterpart.”
7. India and China, he said, have decided to take several steps to “resume practical cooperation between our two countries. Amongst the first of these, is the resumption of the Kailash-Mansarovar yatra this year,” he said, adding that “We are also discussing the resumption of cooperation on transport and rivers, and on direct air services.”
8. He noted that these steps are important and foremost in order to restore mutual trust between the two nations and enhance people-to-people ties. Highlighting the responsibility that the two major economies must live up to, Mr Misri said, “As two large neighbours in an important part of the world, a stable bilateral relationship between our nations will contribute to humanity as a whole. Let us take this 75th year milestone as an opportunity to rebuild our ties.”
9. Before concluding his speech, the foreign secretary spoke about the “third lesson” for both nations to keep in mind. “The durable basis for rebuilding our ties is the three-fold formula of mutual respect, mutual sensitivity, and mutual interest.”
10. In his closing remarks, the foreign secretary acknowledged that “The path forward may be a difficult one, but one that we are prepared for”, adding that “It is on the basis of these steps that we have already taken in the last five months, that we have seen promising beginnings” at the end of seven-and-a-half decades. This, he said, should now be “turned into tangible benefit” for the people of our two countries.