India-China friendship is vital for world development

The25th SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization) summit in Tianjin, where Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi met, stands as a guidepost for global peace and multifaceted development. Towards this, the Global Governance Initiative (GGI) occupies a special place.

The five principles proposed by Jinping are instructive: respect for sovereign equality; adherence to international rule of law; multipolarity; people-centered policies and producing real results. It is heartening that the GGI focuses on people’s welfare as has been proposed by Jinping. Modi’s support has given the proposals additional momentum.

As leading members of the SCO and BRICS, China and India should work for improved global governance. Moreover, if all proposals can be made to be considered at the national level, India and China will be counted among those who strive not only for their own development but also for establishing peace elsewhere. Developing countries should be given greater encouragement.

If the two nations work harder to keep global governance on the right track, it will contribute to world peace and development. There is no need to keep repeating a scholar’s remark that the world’s peace depends on friendship between India and China — it is self-evident.

A few decades ago, people thought peace and stability would flourish only in countries that followed the lead of Russia or America. We should not dismiss the notion that China and India have now reached a level of leadership. Diplomatic relations between China and India have lasted for more than seven decades.

Since being established in 1950, this relationship has faced many ups and downs. The leaders of these two nations, who intended to walk side by side, have at times drifted apart and at times come together. There have been conflicts and competition in development.

Although diplomatic ties have not always moved steadily toward deep cooperation, they have not been broken in haste. When necessary, one side has shown anger and the other has de-escalated. They have behaved like siblings within a family. Yet it cannot be confidently asserted that China will unquestionably draw closer to India and the latter will not, for China’s sake, sour its relations with other countries.

China does not bring other countries closer which reject it. Diplomacy and relationships are hard to define. No one has found a simple tool to weigh the values of nations on a single scale.

The saying “the world is small” did not become popular for no reason. International relations don’t work by placing a small country next to a big one and giving all the advantage to the bigger one. Each country may follow its own path, but that does not imply that their paths will never cross. It should be noted that Jinping and Modi have met 18 times between 2014 and 2024. The year 2014 was declared the China-India Friendship Year. That is why Xi officially visited Ahmedabad in Modi’s home state, saying he wanted to foster closer ties. Modi also began his first trip to China in 2015 by visiting Xi’s home province.

Even after meeting so many times, the two leaders met separately and privately again at the BRICS summit in Kazan in 2024 to further strengthen bilateral friendship. Meeting repeatedly and talking does not magically erase disagreements or eliminate enmity. But such meetings are attempts to understand each other and improve relations; they help reduce hostility. Countries like Pakistan and the United States need to recognize this. Other concerned nations can observe these behaviors, grasp the diplomatic realities, and try to adapt and make necessary changes.

On this occasion the role of the UN is notable. The United Nations has been in existence for 80 years. Formed to overcome the losses the world suffered in the First and Second World Wars and to put a stop to fascist actions, the organisation’s primary purpose is to achieve both peace and development. Many hopes have been placed on this institution. Those hopes have been realised on occasions, albeit temporarily, when the U.N. successfully mediated between rival or hostile states to prevent or end conflicts and wars. However, associated institutions such as the IMF and others have been weakened.

Permanent members of the Security Council have sometimes used their positions as a shield for weapons and to pursue their own agendas, which have harmed the UN. If leading countries do not take strong measures to prevent the weakening of the UN, efforts for peace and development will remain only on paper. That is why there is a move away from unilateralism toward multilateralism and multiparty cooperation. It is not appropriate for some members to wield disproportionate power or to cling to privileges when circumstances change.

Comprehensive reforms of Security Council membership seem necessary. Decisions aimed at maintaining peace should be made on the principle that all countries are equal. Leading countries should strengthen the UN system, not undermine it. Its goals will not be achieved by temporary, showy measures.

The Kashmir issue, which has persisted for many years amid border disputes involving Russia–Ukraine, Israel–Palestine, Pakistan–Afghanistan, and Pakistan–India, has not been moving toward resolution. Measures taken after the Pahalgam incident have been inadequate. Many countries have failed to provide clarity on counterterrorism policies.

China and India should now take steps to pursue peace and development through multilateralism. The 25th SCO summit in Tianjin can serve as a platform for global peacebuilding and multifaceted development. GGI will have a special role towards achieving this.

It is quite encouraging that Xi proposed the GGI for the welfare of the people, and Modi’s support has given these proposals further momentum. As key members of the SCO and BRICS, China and India should work hard on global governance. The two nations will be recognized as contributors to the development and peace of other countries. Developing nations should receive greater encouragement. If India and China intensify their efforts to steer global governance in the right direction, it will aid world peace and development.

(The writer is a retired IPS officer, who has served as an Additional DGP of Andhra Pradesh)