Besides the long pending border dispute; India-China relations are also marred by several irritants old and new.
The Dalai Lama succession issue and China's support for Pakistan during India's Operation Sindoor are major friction points.
Moreover, there is a growing closeness between China, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
But amid all that a sort of diplomatic miracle has happened as External Afairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar could have one-on-one meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. This has happened when there was also all sorts of speculation on Xi Jinping being allegedly marginalised by certain forces in Beijing.
"Called on President Xi Jinping this morning in Beijing along with my fellow SCO Foreign Ministers. Conveyed the greetings of President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Apprised President Xi of the recent development of our bilateral ties. Value the guidance of our leaders in that regard," Jaishankar tweeted.
Dr Jaishankar's visit builds on momentum generated by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's trip to Qingdao in June for the SCO defence ministers' meeting.
It was the first visit by an Indian defence minister to China in over a decade.
The visits are aimed at laying the potential groundwork for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's likely visit to China later this year for the SCO Leaders' Summit.
Notably, Xi Jinping had stayed away from the 2023 G20 Summit hosted in New Delhi.
Both PM Modi and President Xi have held two rounds of informal Summit in 2028 and 2019 even as the differences between two sides have continued.
Dr Jaishankar underscored that differences should not become disputes and nor should competition become conflict.
"We have made good progress in the past nine months towards the normalisation of our bilateral relations... It is now incumbent on us to address other aspects related to the border, including de-escalation," he said.
The External Affairs Minister also urged China to avoid "restrictive trade measures and roadblocks", a reference to Chinese export restrictions on critical minerals.
Dr Jaishankar's meeting with Xi was the first such interaction between the two leaders since the deadly Galwan Valley clash of June 2020.
In October 2024, a disengagement agreement was reached covering the final two friction points, Demchok and Depsang.
Since then, both nations have decided to revive bilateral dialogue mechanisms, which had been in cold storage since the border standoff.
ends
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