Preserving global economic order amid turbulence in focus at Modi-Xi meet

NEW new delhi: farther steps to normalise India-China ties, including combat-ready direction of the edge to ensure peace, and preserving the global economic order amid turbulence created by US trade policies will be in focus when Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday, people familiar with the matter said.Modi, who is travelling to China for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit, and Xi are set to meet in the northern city of Tianjin on Sunday afternoon for the second time since India and China reached an understanding last October on ending a military standoff on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) that began in April-May 2020. The faceoff took bilateral relations to their lowest point since the 1962 border war.This is also Modi’s first visit to China since the start of the LAC standoff, and the meeting will be an opportunity for the leaders to take stock of progress since last year in normalising ties and addressing the border dispute, especially forward movement through resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra to Tibet in April, resumption of tourist visas for Chinese nationals in July, and the decision to explore an “early harvest” in boundary delimitation during talks between the Special Representatives this month.Also Read | Japan, China visits to further national interest: PM Modi ahead of 4-day visit amid Trump tariff tensionThe Indian side expects to move step-by-step in the normalisation process and there is a recognition on both sides of the need to keep the border peaceful through active management, the people cited above said, requesting anonymity. “The borders have been broadly stable since the events of 2020,” a person said, pointing to the need to build on this stability.While people-to-people contacts have been the focus of recent confidence-building measures, such as the revival of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra after a gap of five years and resumption of tourist visas to Chinese nationals, bilateral economic ties also need to stabilise going forward, the people said.Also Read | PM Modi, Russia's Putin among 20 attendees at China's SCO summit | Who all are attending“There is a need to avoid trade barriers and restrictions so as not to hurt the fragile trust and bring in more confidence,” the person cited above said, in a reference to China’s recent curbs on exports of commodities such as fertilisers, rare earth minerals and heavy machinery.During a visit to India last week for talks with National Security Adviser Ajit Doval under the Special Representatives mechanism, Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi had assured his interlocutors that Beijing will address India’s key concerns related to export restrictions on fertilisers, rare earths and tunnel boring machines.The recent thaw in bilateral relations has apparently been spurred by the geo-economic churn caused by the trade and tariff policies of the Trump administration in the US, and the people said that emerging economies such as India and China share a common interest in preserving the global economic order amid the ongoing turbulence.“Recent events have made the imperatives of multipolarity even stronger,” the person cited above said. “India’s priority is growth and development and a growing China can be a contributor, at a time when established markets are facing uncertainty.”US President Donald Trump doubled tariffs on most Indian goods to 50% this week by slapping a 25% punitive tariff on India over Russian oil purchases. Earlier this month, China and the US extended a tariff truce by 90 days until November, and Chinese goods currently face a US tariff of 30%. However, Trump has warned in recent days of enhancing tariffs to as much as 200% if China curbs exports of rare earth magnets.