India started issuing tourist visas to Chinese citizens from Thursday marking the building of bridges towards restoring ties that had been derailed since the Galwan crisis in 2020. Tourist visas for the Chinese follow an important step for India in China opening Kailash Mansarovar for spiritual tourism. The normalisation of ties, which might see a big influx of average Chinese tourists looking for more economical destinations than the first world to satisfy their quest to travel, may also lead to Prime Minister Narendra Modi deciding to attend the SCO meet in person on August 31 and September 1. It was after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Kazan, Russia, in October last year that set the ball rolling on restoration of ties after the border skirmish had ruined the status quo. Another Xi-Modi meeting might see India move on beyond the border issue that India has been seeing as a stumbling block to normalising ties in other areas like direct flights, business, Chinese investments in India and cultural exchanges. Of course, India had clearly shown how much store it lay in asking China to tackle the border issues first before the nations could move on. Multiple meetings have taken place at the military commanders’ level and one of the special representatives last year. At a consultation and cooperation meeting on Wednesday, the situation along the LAC in eastern Ladakh was discussed. And yet the border situation has not changed much in terms of de-escalation after the issue of troops facing each other from close quarters was resolved in a disengagement pact for Depsang and Demchok. There may be more ground to cover regarding the border issue, but improvement in ties in other areas is significant. At a time of great uncertainty over trade issues with the US, it is important for India to cultivate China and talk about the trade imbalances as well as certain roadblocks that China has been placing regarding technology, semiconductors and crucial equipment for infrastructure building in India. Trust but verify will always be the guiding principle when it comes to dealing with China and India would do well to stay on that path even as word is awaited on the government decision on the PM’s participation in SCO and a bilateral visit to Beijing that is thought to be overdue.
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