Xi: China, India should be partners

President Xi Jinping said on Saturday that China and India, though having different national conditions, should draw on each other's strengths and support each other to achieve shared success and pursue common development.

Xi made the remarks during a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, the capital of India, on the sidelines of the 18th BRICS Summit. Both leaders had a sincere and in-depth exchange of views, and reached an important consensus that China and India should be partners.

Xi said that facing a complex international situation, China and India, as the two most populous countries and important members of the Global South, bear significant responsibilities.

Both countries should keep the future of humanity in mind and the well-being of the people at heart, and work together to promote the high-quality development of greater BRICS cooperation, providing more positive energy for world peace, stability and prosperity, he said.

Xi's last trip to India was in October 2019, when he held an informal meeting with Modi. Xi and Modi met on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia, in 2024. They also met on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Tianjin last year.

This meeting between Xi and Modi in New Delhi was the third year in a row for them to meet with each other.

Xi said that institutional exchanges between the two countries have gradually resumed, the list of areas of cooperation has continued to grow, and bilateral trade has reached a new record high. Such hard-won progress should be cherished, Xi added.

Underscoring objective and rational strategic perception in calibrating China-India relations, Xi said that China and India are partners for cooperation, not rivals. He underlined the need for both sides to uphold a win-win approach to achieve mutual success. Both countries should expand cooperation in people-to-people exchanges, direct flights and other areas to effectively strengthen public support for bilateral relations, and adopt a balanced approach to addressing each other's economic and trade concerns, Xi added.

He called on China and India to draw on the political wisdom of mutual respect and understanding to overcome disruptions, saying that the two countries should remain committed to a dual-track approach to advancing bilateral relations and the resolution of the boundary question, with both reinforcing each other and maintaining peace and tranquility in border areas.

Xi also called on both countries to strengthen coordination within multilateral frameworks such as the United Nations, the SCO and the Group of 20, and work together to address global challenges.

During Saturday's meeting, Modi assured Xi that India always views its relations with China from a strategic and long-term perspective, and it is willing to be a partner with China rather than a rival, and view each other's development as an opportunity rather than a challenge.

He said that India adheres to an independent foreign policy, and the development of its relations with China is not affected by any third party. India's policy and stance on the Taiwan question and issues related to the Xizang autonomous region remain unchanged, and it will not allow any force to engage in anti-China activities on its territory, Modi added.

He expressed India's readiness to maintain high-level exchanges and strengthen strategic communication with China based on mutual respect and mutual trust, and promote mutually beneficial cooperation and people-to-people exchanges in order to achieve greater development in bilateral relations.