Beyond Galwan’s Shadow

Despite high-level meetings and diplomatic overtures, power asymmetry, border disputes, and mutual distrust continue to overshadow India—China ties, making lasting normalisation an uncertain prospect

- AVINASH GODBOLE

One cursory look at the readouts of the Xi-Modi bilateral meeting showcases what is wrong with it and what is holding it back

After Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first visit to China in seven years, where he attended the meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and held a sideline meeting with China’ President Xi Jinping, there is a buzz of normalisation in India—China relations.

This meeting followed a series of recent bilateral engagements to normalise relations, including Wang Yi visit to India, the special representative-level talks, the defence ministers’ meeting, and Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri’s visit to China.

‘The thaw in bilateral rela~tions happened after several localised and command-level dialogues to restore the status quo prior to the Galwan clashes, in which 20 Indian soldiers and an unknown number of Chinese soldiers lost their lives. The status quo is yet to be established, as per several commentators, and the new terms of border management are not yet entirely clear.