China India Photo:CFP

China-India relations in early 2025 continued the momentum of exchanges and stabilization seen in late 2024,MKsport as India's Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri kicked off his trip to Beijing on Sunday, in another indication that China and India are restoring a mechanism to enhance dialogue and work on specific issues. 

Liu Jianchao, head of the International Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, met with Misri on Sunday, and the two sides exchanged views on jointly implementing the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, strengthening exchanges and dialogues, and promoting the improvement and healthy and stable development of China-India relations, as well as international and regional issues of common concern.

According to a press release by the Ministry of External Affairs of India, Misri's scheduled Beijing visit lasts from January 26 to 27, during which he is expected to attend a meeting of the Foreign Secretary-Vice Minister mechanism between India and China.

New Delhi also claims that the resumption of this bilateral mechanism flows from the agreement at the leadership level to discuss the next steps for India-China relations, including in the political, economic, and people-to-people domains. 

Indian media outlet The Hindu said that Misri, who previously served as India's Ambassador to Beijing, will meet Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong in Beijing. Sun served as Chinese Ambassador to India from 2019 to 2022. 

Specifically, issues to be discussed include the resumption of direct flights between India and China, issuance of visas, particularly for businesspersons and journalists, and ironing out trade issues, according to The Hindu. 

At a press briefing on January 24, Chinese spokesperson Mao Ning said that "We welcome Foreign Secretary Shri Vikram Misri's trip to China for the meeting of the Foreign Secretary-Vice Minister mechanism between China and India." 

She stressed that last October, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached important common understandings on improving and growing bilateral relations when they met on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Kazan.

"Both sides agreed to improve and strengthen interactions, resume institutional dialogues as well as exchanges and cooperation in various fields and work to bring China-India relations back on the track of sound and steady growth at an early date," Mao said. 

In the eyes of some observers, China-India relations have shown signs of thawing and stabilizing despite a border standoff and a complex geopolitical context. 

Before Misri's China visit, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval in Beijing in December 2024. The two senior diplomats, also as the special representatives, reached a six-point consensus on border questions, less than two months after the two countries announced they had reached resolutions on border issues on October 21. 

On October 23, 2024, Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the 16th BRICS Summit in Kazan, urging China and India to strengthen communication and cooperation, enhance strategic mutual trust, and facilitate each other's pursuit of development aspirations. 

During a meeting with Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro in December, Chinese top diplomat Wang Yi stressed that China and India should strive to make practical progress as soon as possible in areas such as resuming direct flights, exchanging journalists, and facilitating visa issuance processes. 

Hu Zhiyong, a professor from the Zhejiang International Studies University and also a research fellow at the Institute of International Relations at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times that the recent tendency of stabilization in China-India ties comes as the Indian government seeks to deal with the uncertainty brought about by the new US administration, and at the same time, New Delhi also recognizes the closeness and interdependence of the two's economies and trade, despite restrictions imposed on Chinese companies in India.

According to data from the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI), China overtook US as India's top trading partner in the fiscal year 2024, with bilateral trade reaching $118.4 billion. Imports from China increased by 3.24 percent to $101.7 billion, while exports to China surged by 8.7 percent to $16.67 billion.

Hu said that he is cautiously optimistic about future China-India ties, as "it's beneficial for the two sides to sit down and talk to each other, while we should also be aware of the complexity in the ties, especially the duplicity of the Indian side."

Hu mentioned the latest Quad foreign ministers' meeting and the talks between Jaishankar and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, which were held in Washington one day after Donald Trump's inauguration. Despite not naming China directly in their public release, diplomats said they oppose actions that "seek to change the status quo by force or coercion," which was believed to be alluding to China. 

"China's attitude toward further stabilizing and developing China-India relations is sincere and pragmatic. However, the Indian side needs to make efforts to respond with more goodwill," Hu said. 

The expert stressed that interactions and cooperation between countries should be based on equality and mutual benefit, which requires India to treat its neighbor with a pragmatic, positive and responsible attitude, instead of an opportunistic diplomatic approach of "talking to China when needed, while suppressing China on other occasions."