India and China’s bilateral trade has registered a 10.5 per cent increase year on year. Diplomatic ties too have been on the ascendant since Prime Minister Narendra Modi went to Tianjin for the SCO Summit. “Bilateral trade in goods has grown steadily, reaching $88 billion in the first seven months of this year, with a year-on-year increase of 10.5 per cent,” said Xu Feihong, China’s Ambassador to India. “China stands ready to strengthen the synergy of development strategies and share experience in modernisation with India. We welcome more Indian companies to promote their products and invest in China, and we also hope that India could provide a fair, just, and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese enterprises”.
In 2024-25, the bilateral trade was $127.7 billion. India’s trade deficit with China reached about $99.2 billion, marking a significant increase over the previous year. While India’s imports from China saw a substantial rise to $113.5 billion, its exports to China declined to $14.25 billion. Chinese diplomatic missions in India have issued over 240,000 visas to Indian citizens. Kailash Manasarovar Yatra too has resumed after a gap of five years. India too has resumed visas for Chinese nationals, and direct flights between the two nations are likely to resume soon.
“China opposes the Trump administration’s 50 per cent tariffs on India, as those are unfair and unreasonable,” added Ambassador Xu Feihong. “New Delhi and Beijing should scale up economic ties to jointly counter the challenge”. Both India and China were victims of terrorism and, so, Beijing stands ready to work with the international community, including New Delhi, to combat the challenge,” he informed. “China and India have maintained communications on counter-terrorism through multilateral mechanisms, such as the SCO, BRICS and the Tianjin Declaration, in which the (SCO) member states condemned terrorism in all its forms”.
Consensus on boundary issues
According to the ambassador, an important consensus was reached between India and China on the boundary issues, and the bilateral relationship between the two sides has not been impacted by a third party (implying Pakistan). Ambassador Feihong also recounted India’s support for China during the Second World War. In 1938, the Indian Medical Mission, represented by Dr Kotnis and Dr Basu had gone to China in support of its War of Resistance against aggression. Kotnis set up medical stations closest to the front lines, where he saved countless Chinese soldiers and civilians and trained numerous medical personnel. Worn out by overwork, he had lost his life and rests forever on Chinese soil.
Basu committed himself to Yan’an for six years, introduced acupuncture to India and devoted the rest of his life to medical exchange and friendship between China and India.
“Over the past 75 years, China-India relations have experienced twists and turns, but friendly co-operation has always been the dominant theme,” the ambassador added. Over the past year, President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Modi have met twice – in Kazan and in Tianjin – charting the right course for the improvement and development of bilateral relations.
The two sides have earnestly implemented the important consensus reached by the two leaders. The two foreign ministers have exchanged visits too, and special representatives on the boundary question, defence ministers and vice-foreign minister/foreign secretary level representatives have maintained frequent interactions. “History cannot be changed, but the future can be shaped,” the ambassador added. “Let us draw lessons from history, carry forward the great spirit of the War of Resistance, promote China-India friendship and co-operation with a more proactive attitude and build a community with a shared future for humanity with a more open mind, so that the torch of peace can be passed on from generation to generation, the driving force of development can be sustained and the light of civilisation can shine brightly”