(TibetanReview.net, Sep17’26) – India may not have stated it in its official readout of the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in New Delhi on Sep12, but China has sought to let it be known that it had reiterated its One-China policy, noted m.thewire.in Sep 15.
The reference to Taiwan and Tibet is significant as India has largely refrained from publicly articulating its One-China policy for nearly two decades, the report said.
The main reason for this was China’s aggressive claim on Arunachal Pradesh and its provocative actions concerning this strategic Tibet-border state of India. including by denying regular visas to its residents.
India on Sep 15 stopped short of denying China’s claim that Modi had reiterated New Delhi’s One-China policy in his meeting with Xi, instead stressing that the Prime Minister had raised Indian concerns “as well” and called for both sides to show sensitivity to each other’s “core concerns”.
India and China issued separate readouts of the meeting, with the differences between them reflecting the two sides’ respective policy priorities.
The Chinese foreign ministry said Modi conveyed that “India’s policy and position on issues relating to Taiwan and Tibet remain unchanged, and it will not allow any force to engage in anti-China activities on its territory”. India’s readout, however, made no mention of Modi reiterating the One-China policy.
Three days later, in answer to a question at a media briefing, India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal did not specifically deny the Chinese account. Instead, he said: “As far as your question regarding a mention of certain issues in the Chinese declaration, on that I will say that several issues came up during the discussions and we have kept you updated with those, including those referred to in your question”.
Jaiswal added that Modi had also raised India’s concerns and stressed the need for mutual sensitivity, the report said.
“Prime minister referred to Indian concerns as well and underlined that both sides should show sensitivity to each other’s core concerns and be guided by the three mutuals: mutual respect, mutual interest and mutual sensitivity.”
The Chinese readout did not refer to this position of Modi, as also India’s core concern about Tibet-border situation.
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Modi and Xi had met twice previously since the two sides reached an understanding in Oct 2024 to resolve the military stand-off along the Line of Actual Control. Neither of the Chinese foreign ministry’s readouts of those meetings had referred to Taiwan or Tibet.
The report also said China’s references to the issues in readouts of ministerial meetings had also previously drawn responses from India, although New Delhi had generally avoided directly disputing the wording attributed to its officials.
The report noted that in July this year, following a meeting between Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi and external affairs minister S Jaishankar in Manila, the Chinese readout quoted Jaishankar as saying that India’s position on “Taiwan and Xizang remains unchanged”, while also stating that India respected China’s sovereignty.
The MEA at that time responded by saying India had consistently respected China’s sovereignty, but added that it was China that had violated India’s territorial integrity, including through its occupation of Indian territory and its projects in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
The report also said the two sides had a sharper exchange in August last year, after a Chinese readout of another Wang-Jaishankar meeting said the Indian minister had stated that “Taiwan is part of China”. The Chinese also quoted India’s national security adviser Ajit Doval as having told Wang that “India has always adhered to the One-China policy”.
The MEA subsequently said there had been “no change in our position on Taiwan” and stressed that India’s engagement with Taiwan was focused on economic, technological and cultural cooperation.