Xi Jinping's 'Secret' Letter To President Murmu Started Chain Leading To PM Modi's First China Visit In Seven Years: Report

India and China appear to be cautiously mending ties after years of tensions, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi due to travel to China next week, his first visit in seven years.

According to a Bloomberg report, the move follows months of quiet diplomacy, triggered in part by the trade war unleashed by US President Donald Trump.

As per the report, Beijing first reached out in March, when President Xi Jinping sent a letter to Indian President Droupadi Murmu, later relayed to Modi, expressing concern over Washington’s deals and naming an envoy to lead engagement.

New Delhi only began to respond seriously by June, as relations with the US soured further amid Trump’s 50 per cent tariffs on Indian exports linked to Russian oil purchases.

By August, both sides had agreed to intensify efforts to resolve their long-standing border disputes, signalling a willingness to move past the deadly 2020 clashes.

National Security Adviser Ajit Doval has since held several rounds of talks in China, while Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar met his counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing last month, the first such visit in five years.

Direct flights are expected to resume soon, and Beijing has eased restrictions on urea exports to India.

Since then, a series of quiet steps has followed: National Security Adviser Ajit Doval’s visits to China, Jaishankar’s talks with Wang Yi in Beijing, and incremental confidence-building measures such as restoring flights and easing Chinese fertiliser shipments.

Modi is set to visit China next week, his first trip there in seven years, marking the most visible sign yet of the quiet back-channel talks.

For Beijing, warming ties with India offer access to a vast market at a time when its own economy is slowing and facing pushback from the West.

For New Delhi, Chinese investment could provide a lift to Modi’s goal of expanding manufacturing.

Please click here to add Swarajya as your preferred and trusted news source on Google

Also Read: European Trade Chief Expected In India Next Month As Both Sides Race To Unlock Massive Trade Potential Via FTA