The development of China-India's relations in the recent 70 years

China and India, two civilizational giants, are riding a wave of the profound changes unseen in a century. The two countries are neighbors, important players on multilateral platforms and both major developing countries, and their relationship reflects all of these factors. Over the past seven decades, China-India relations have continued progressing despite ups and downs. To catch a glimpse of the future, it is helpful to reflect on the history of their relationship.

24 Visits

Since the establishment of their diplomatic ties on April 1, 1950, relations between China and India have shifted through five phases known as the honeymoon period (1950-1959), the confrontation period (1959-1976), the normalization period (1976-2000), the strategic and cooperative partnership period (2000-2013) and today’s close partnership period since 2013. Myriad events happened over the past 70 years. Among them, the 24 dedicated visits by heads of state and government of the two countries to the other side best testify to the changes in the relations between China and India.

Honeymoon Period

From 1950 when their diplomatic relations were established to 1959 when disputes between the two countries emerged, the honeymoon period featured three visits by leaders from both sides. In June 1954, Chinese Premier and Foreign Minister Zhou Enlai made a formal visit to India to clarify and settle the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence reiterated by the Joint Statement of Chinese and Indian Premiers. In October of the same year, Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru visited China and met with Chairman Mao Zedong four times. The two visits boosted the relations between China and India to new heights. In November and December of 1956, Premier Zhou Enlai made his second visit to India, which inspired the slogan “Hindi Chini Bhai Bhai” (India and China are brothers). The mid-1950s were regarded as the height of “the honeymoon period” of China-India relations.

Confrontation Period          

By 1959, the Tibet issue and the boundary question pushed China and India into open disagreement. Intimacy deteriorated into hostility, and the border conflict eventually erupted in full confrontation. During this period, just one visit by a head of government happened between the two countries. In April 1960, Premier Zhou made his third and final visit to India to discuss the boundary question with Jawaharlal Nehru, but it remained unsettled after seven meetings. After the outbreak of a one-month border conflict between the two countries in 1962, bilateral relations maintained a long-term standoff until 1976.

Normalization Period

In 1976, relations between China and India settled back to normal as they resumed ambassadorial ties. Between 1976 and 2000 when the two countries jointly celebrated the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties, heads of government from both sides exchanged visits five times. In December 1988, Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi overcame obstruction of the “parallel policy” to pay a historic formal visit to China. It was the first time that an Indian head of state visited China since Jawaharlal Nehru 34 years earlier.

In December 1991, Chinese Premier Li Peng made a formal visit to India, the first by a Chinese premier since Zhou in 1960. These two visits by heads of government of the two countries happened in the global context of the collapse of Soviet Union and the breakup of a bi-polar world and played a groundbreaking role in boosting and reconstructing bilateral ties.

In May 1992, Indian President Ramaswamy Venkataraman made a state visit to China, the first by an Indian president. In September 1993, Indian Prime Minister Narasimha Rao made a formal visit to China during which the two sides inked the Agreement on the Maintenance of Peace and Tranquility along the Line of Actual Control in the India-China Border Areas.

From November 28 to December 1, 1996, Chinese President Jiang Zemin made a state visit to India, the first by a Chinese president, during which the two sides established a “constructive partnership of cooperation oriented towards the 21st century” and signed the Agreement between India and China on Confidence-Building Measures in the Military Field along the Line of Actual Control in the India-China Border Areas. Moreover, the two border agreements signed in 1993 and 1996 respectively provided international legal guarantees to maintain peace on the border of China and India.

Strategic and Cooperative Partnership

During the period from 2000 when China and India celebrated the 50th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic ties up to the Chinese premier’s 2013 visit to India, eight visits of heads of government were made between the two countries. From May 28 to June 2, 2000, Indian President Kocheril Narayanan made a state visit to China, the first visit to Beijing by an Indian leader since the setback in bilateral relations caused by India’s nuclear test in 1998.

In January 2002, Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji made a formal visit to India. India reframed its attitude about China, moving past the “China threat” prejudice to embrace China as a neighbor and friend. In June 2003, Indian Prime Minister Bihari Vajpayee made a formal visit to China, and the two sides signed 10 cooperative documents including the Declaration on Principles for Relations and Comprehensive Cooperation between China and India, which provided political solutions for Tibet and Sikkim issues.

In April 2005, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao made a formal visit to India. The two sides established a strategic and cooperative partnership for peace and prosperity and signed the Agreement on the Political Parameters and Guiding Principles for the Settlement of the India-China Boundary Question and the Protocol on Modalities for the Implementation of Confidence Building Measures in the Military Field along the Line of Actual Control in the India-China Border Areas. Since then, China-India relations evolved from a constructive cooperative partnership to a strategic and cooperative partnership, marking the first bilateral step of the three-step roadmap to solve the China-India boundary question. (The three steps include agreeing on guiding principles, deciding the framework, and drawing the actual line.)

In November 2006, Chinese President Hu Jintao made a formal visit to India and the two sides agreed that comprehensive economic and trade relations were the core of their strategic and cooperative partnership. In January 2008, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made a formal visit to China, during which the two sides signed A Shared Vision for the 21st Century.

In May 2010, Indian President Pratibha Patil made a formal state visit to China and called mutual learning and communication a “cornerstone” to strengthening friendship between the two countries. In December of the same year, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visited India, during which he agreed with his Indian counterpart that China-India relations had gone  beyond the bilateral scope and had global and strategic significance, so they decided to set up a regular mutual visit mechanism of heads of state and government between the two countries. The same year, the Chinese premier and the Indian president exchanged visits.

Closer Development Partnership

Since 2013, China and India have endeavored to develop a closer partnership for development. The period from 2013 when Chinese Premier Li Keqiang visited India to April 1, 2020 witnessed seven exchange visits by heads of state and government from the two countries. In May 2013, newly-appointed Chinese Premier Li Keqiang headed to India for his first outbound visit, highlighting how important the new Chinese administration considered China-India relations. In October of the same year, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh paid a formal visit to China. It was the first time since 1954 that the premiers from the two countries exchanged visits in the same year.

In September 2014, Chinese President Xi Jinping paid a state visit to India, emphasizing that “development is the biggest common strategic goal of the two countries.” China and India agreed to develop “a closer developmental partnership” that would be “a core component” of their strategic and cooperative partnership. Since then, the two countries have focused on a development partnership while paying attention to a strategic and cooperative partnership.

In May 2015, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited China, and the two sides agreed that the simultaneous rise of China and India provided an important opportunity to realize the Asian Century. In May 2016, Indian President Pranab Mukherjee visited China, and the two sides agreed to strengthen cultural exchange and mutual understanding to construct a closer development partnership. In 2017, the 72-day Dong Lang (Doklam) standoff interrupted visits by the heads of state and government of the two countries. In April 2018, Chinese President Xi Jinping held an informal meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Wuhan. The two sides agreed to “blaze a broad path of friendly cooperation between the two great neighboring countries, a path that can best meet the needs of the times” and “strengthen the China-India closer developmental partnership in an equal-footed, mutually beneficial and sustainable manner to support national modernization.”

In October 2019, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the southern Indian city of Chennai for the second informal meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The two leaders agreed that China and India should respect and learn from each other to jointly achieve common development and prosperity and the great rejuvenation of the two civilizations. On April 1, 2020, to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian President Ram Nath Kovind exchanged greetings, as did Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi. Both sides agreed to “construct a closer development partnership” and “constantly push for new achievements in China-India strategic and cooperative partnership.”

Consensus on Cooperation

Interactions between China and India can run as rapid as the Yarlung Zangbo River or sit as inert as the Himalayas. And mutual visits by heads of state and government testify to the ups and downs in relations between the two countries. Since 1950, top leaders from China and India made 24 special exchange visits – 12 by Chinese leaders and 12 by their Indian counterparts – reflecting the principle of “diplomatic equivalence.” The 50 years before 2000 brought nine mutual visits. But the first 20 years of this century saw 15. The rapidly increasing frequency of high-level mutual visits in the 21st century highlights the positive development trend of relations between the two countries.

After achieving independence, both China and India have strived for modernization by transforming from traditional to modern society. The modernization that the two countries pursue is driven by industrial development and technological revolution, which will transform either country from an agricultural society into an industrial society and allow industrialism to penetrate fields of economics, politics, culture, and innovation to produce profound reforms of social organizations and social behavior. Since the 1990s, the world has welcomed the fourth technological revolution based on the internet. Accordingly, great changes have taken place in the landscape of China’s and India’s modernization, which associate information technology, industrialization, and urbanization closely with modernization.

National modernization and civilizational revival are both countries’ strategic goals and core interests. This is also a consensus reached by the two countries. As socialism with Chinese characteristics enters into a new era, rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is the highest and most fundamental interest of China. Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi took office, his administration has been dedicated to making India a strong, developed, inclusive and modern country by following a blueprint for a “new India” by 2022 and its 15-year development plan. Both China and India are now marching towards modernization and the realization of their strategic goals of national rejuvenation. So, at their two informal meetings in 2018 and 2019, leaders of the two countries reached two tremendously important consensuses: First, to support each other’s national modernization. Second, to achieve the great rejuvenation of both civilizations.

Today, the world is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century. Maintaining rapid growth, China and India are riding the tide and pushing global reform. The modernization of China and India, the advancement of their civilizational revival and the depth of their cooperation and development will determine the advent of the Asian Century. To jointly build the Asian Century of world civilization, a community with a shared future for Asia and a community with a shared future for humanity, China and India need to actively construct a closer development partnership and constantly strive for new fruits in China-India strategic and cooperative partnership while advancing their respective modernization.

The author is a professor at the School of Marxism of Beijing Institute of Technology.