External affairs minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, in what marked his first visit to China in six years, amid gradually improving ties between the two neighbours.

The meeting took place on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) foreign ministers’ meet. “Called on President Xi Jinping this morning in Beijing along with my fellow SCO foreign ministers,” Jaishankar posted on X. “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.” Earlier in the day, Jaishankar held talks with his counterpart Wang Yi, where he said both countries had “made good progress in the past nine months for the normalization of our bilateral relations.” He attributed this to the resolution of border friction and efforts to maintain peace and tranquillity.

“This is the fundamental basis for mutual strategic trust and for smooth development of bilateral relations. It is now incumbent on us to address other aspects related to the border, including de-escalation,” Jaishankar said.

Taking note of the positive trajectory since Prime Minister Modi and President Xi Jinping’s meeting in Kazan last year, Jaishankar urged Beijing to adopt a “far-seeing approach” to the relationship. He added, “Stable and constructive ties between India and China are not only to our benefit, but that of the world as well. This is best done by handling relations on the basis of mutual respect, mutual interest and mutual sensitivity.

We have also earlier agreed that differences should not become disputes, nor should competition ever become conflict. On this foundation, we can now continue to develop our ties along a positive trajectory.”In a pointed reference to China’s export restrictions, Jaishankar said such trade barriers may impact India’s domestic manufacturing. “As neighbouring nations and major economies in the world today, there are various facets and dimensions of our ties.

Measures towards normalizing our people to people exchanges can certainly foster mutually beneficial cooperation. It is also essential in this context that restrictive trade measures and roadblocks are avoided,” he said.Jaishankar also stressed the need for greater connectivity and exchanges, with both sides agreeing to resume direct air services and the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, and to cooperate on trans-border rivers through the sharing of hydrological data.Raising the issue of terrorism ahead of the SCO meeting, Jaishankar reminded Wang that “the primary mandate of the grouping is to combat terrorism, separatism and extremism. This is a shared concern and India hopes that zero tolerance for terrorism will be strongly upheld.”The visit comes in the backdrop of the resolution of the long-standing military standoff in eastern Ladakh, completed in October 2023 with disengagement at Depsang and Demchok. The thaw paved the way for the Modi-Xi meeting in Kazan and the resumption of high-level dialogue, with Modi expected to visit China again in September for the SCO Summit.