NEW DELHI: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, a day after assuring External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar that Beijing will resume critical exports to India — including fertilisers, rare earth minerals, and tunnel boring machines — addressing three long-pending Indian demands.The move, a key signal of thawing ties, came ahead of the 24th round of India-China border talks in New Delhi earlier in the day. The export assurance was viewed as a significant confidence-building measure.Sources told TNIE that in his bilateral talks with his Chinese counterpart, Jaishankar underlined India’s expectation of stable, uninterrupted supply chains for essential inputs — an issue he had raised with Beijing earlier as well. They added that Wang had responded positively, committing to facilitate the flow of these vital goods.Meanwhile, the MEA said that Jaishankar raised India’s concerns regarding the construction of a mega dam on the lower reaches of the Yarlung Tsangpo river during his meeting with Wang.Later in the day after the border talks, the Chinese foreign minitser called on PM Modi, who said both sides have made steady progress guided by respect for each other’s interests and sensitivities.PM Modi “welcomed the steady and positive progress in bilateral ties since his meeting with President Xi in Kazan last year, guided by mutual respect, mutual interest and mutual sensitivity, including the resumption of the Kailash Manasarovar Yatra,” an Indian readout said.Modi “reiterated India’s commitment to a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable resolution of the boundary question.” Accepting the Chinese President Xi Jinping’s invitation to attend the upcoming SCO Summit in Tianjin, Modi said he looked forward to meeting Xi again. “Stable, predictable, and constructive bilateral ties will contribute significantly to regional and global peace and prosperity,” he said.“Our leaders have given us the direction, and we must now translate that into durable progress,” Wang told Jaishankar, referring to the Modi-Xi meeting in Kazan in October 2024.National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, who led the border talks, highlighted the calm since disengagement last year. “Borders have been quiet, there has been peace and tranquility, and our bilateral engagements have become more substantial,” Doval said.“The new environment that has been created has helped us move ahead.” Amid the renewed diplomatic exchanges, Indian government sources clarified there was no change in India’s position on Taiwan. “India has always maintained a relationship with Taiwan focused on economic, technological, and cultural ties; that has not changed,” a source said. Notably, India has been supporting the ‘One China’ policy, though its reflection in joint statements remained absent ever since Beijing began issuing stapled visa to Indian nationals in Arunachal Pradesh in 2008.
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