(TibetanReview.net, Jul22’26) – Sino-India relations may be normalizing slowly and India’s External Affairs Minister Mr S. Jaishankar may see ties between the two countries a “valuable contribution” to multi-polar Asia. However, a sustained border peace still remains pre-requisite for normal ties between them, said India media reports Jul 22, citing Jaishankar in his meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in the Philippines capital Manila today.
Jaishankar said he told Wang that as neighbours the two countries should tackle key aspects of relations, such as fair market access and trade balance, in New Delhi’s effort to repair ties with Beijing, reported Reuters Jul 22.
India’s $132 billion worth of imports from China in fiscal year 2025/26 its highest from any nation, with a deficit of more than $100 billion in their total trade of $151.10 billion. The deficit has kept increasing despite India’s attempts to narrow it due to China’s failure to provide India a fair market access to its goods and services.
“There are also concerns about predictability of supply chains… We also need to agree on the meetings of various mechanisms and platforms as per our mutual priorities,” Jaishankar has said on X.
Relations between the nuclear-armed nations improved in 2024, ending years of friction dating from a border clash in 2020, after talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Oct 2024.
“Since Oct 2024, both sides have engaged to ensure that important objective. This will continue to need our constant attention,” Jaishankar has said.
In his opening remarks, Jaishankar has said the meeting – which took place on the sidelines of an ASEAN-related regional gathering in Manila – provided an opportunity to review the current state of bilateral relations as well as exchange views on important regional and global developments.
He has spoken of India being committed to building a stable and cooperative relationship with China based on “mutual respect, mutual interest and mutual sensitivity,” reported firstpost.com Jul 22.
This means that “peace and tranquillity in the border areas is obviously the prerequisite for normal ties,” Jaishankar has said after the meeting. He has added that both sides had been working since Oct 2024 to ensure stability along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
He has said these efforts would require continued attention from both governments and stressed that existing border management mechanisms should receive “full support and strong encouragement.”
Jaishankar has recalled the understanding reached by the two countries’ leaders that differences should not be allowed to turn into disputes. As two large neighbouring nations with their own interests, he has said, it was the responsibility of diplomacy to manage differences constructively.
He has welcomed the steps taken by both countries over the past several months to restore normal engagement, citing the resumption of direct flights, the updated visa regime, the restarting of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra and the reopening of border trade as positive developments in bilateral relations.
Apart from greater facilitation of official exchanges as well as people-to-people contacts, Jaishankar has said, both countries should agree on holding meetings under various bilateral mechanisms and dialogue platforms in line with their mutual priorities.
The report noted that the latest meeting between the two ministers followed a similar discussion between them in Jul 2025, when Jaishankar had also linked the broader bilateral relationship with stability along the border.
During that meeting, he highlighted the positive impact of peace and tranquillity on the smooth development of India-China ties and supported continued efforts towards de-escalation and effective border management, the report said.
Jaishankar was also stated to have raised at that time concerns over cooperation on trans-border rivers, including the resumption of hydrological data sharing by China, besides flagging restrictive trade measures and obstacles affecting economic cooperation.
According to the ANI news service Jul 22, Jaishankar also called India-China ties “valuable contribution” to multi-polar Asia.