A much-awaited meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on the sidelines of the 16th BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia, last week marks a major breakthrough in India-China relations, analysts said.

They added that it is an important milestone in bringing the bilateral relationship between the two neighbors back on track.

Xi and Modi met on Oct 23 on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit, in Kazan, from Oct 22 to 24. At the meeting, Xi underscored that both sides should strengthen cooperation, take a long-term outlook on bilateral relations of world’s two most populous neighbors, and not allow their differences to affect overall development.

READ MORE: China, India agree to resolve issues, boost ties

“It is an important breakthrough in India-China relations and … put bilateral relations back on track after a border standoff for four years. The unfortunate incident of border standoff is now behind us,” said Sudheendra Kulkarni, who served as an aide to former Indian prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Kulkarni founded the Forum for a New South Asia, which promotes cooperation between India and China.

The meeting between the two top leaders has also triggered hope that cooperation in all areas between the countries will resume soon, he said. Kulkarni added that it is a welcome turn of events, as it will herald a major move toward the emergence of a new world order.    

“Nothing can be more credible than two national leaders jointly announcing their commitment to resolve border tensions. This will not only initiate the process of disengagement and de-escalation on their Line of Actual Control (LAC), but also contribute to enhancing their bilateral cooperation, with regional and global implications,” said Swaran Singh, a professor of international relations at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi.

Maintaining peace and stability on the border should be a “priority” for both sides, Modi said at the meeting in his opening remarks. “We believe that the India-China relationship is very important, not only for our people but also for global peace, stability and progress,” Modi emphasized.

Responding to a question regarding the bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS summit, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said in Beijing on Oct 24 that President Xi and Prime Minister Modi reached important common understandings on improving and developing China-India relations. Both sides are of the view that this meeting is constructive and carries great significance.

“The meeting is a very positive development and will expand the cooperation between the two countries. Both leaders have decided to move forward to resolve the border standoff and to strengthen bilateral ties,” said Manoranjan Mohanty, a former professor of political science and director of the Developing Countries Research Centre at the University of Delhi.

Another most important development is that it will instill confidence among Chinese businesses to invest in India and do business with the country, Mohanty stressed.

“It will have an impact on international politics and relations, especially in the Global South,” Prof Varaprasad Sekhar Dolla from the Center for East Asian Studies, at JNU, New Delhi.

“People-to-people exchanges, (and) cultural exchanges between the two countries will expand and there will be more collaboration at multiple levels,” Dolla said.

According to Mohanty at the University of Delhi, the agreement will have positive implications not only on border negotiations, but also in further relaxing visa restrictions as well as other curbs on Chinese investments in India.

Following the border standoff in April 2020, India imposed strict rules on Chinese businesses seeking to invest in the country, banned hundreds of Chinese apps and slowed down visa approvals.

The stringent measures led to the collapse of several major investment proposals from China, including Chinese car maker BYD’s $1 billion investment plan to build electric vehicles in India.

There are hopes that the thaw in ties can trigger more cooperation between the world’s second-largest and fifth-largest economies. It is hoped the warming of relations will be more enduring and that bilateral trade and investment ties will flourish.

The Indian government’s Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran said in July that India needs investments from China to boost the country’s export sector and also to keep the trade deficit with China within manageable levels.

According to a recent report by the India-based Global Trade Research Initiative, India’s imports from China rose to $101 billion in 2023-24, from about $70 billion in 2018-19. The GTRI report said China’s share of India’s industrial goods imports has risen from 21 percent to 30 percent over 15 years, and observed that Chinese imports will rise sharply in the coming years.

READ MORE: China, India reach resolution on border issues

“In accordance with the resolutions that China and India reached recently on issues concerning the border area, the Chinese and Indian frontier troops are engaged in relevant work, which is going smoothly at the moment,” Yu Jing, spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in India, posted on X on Oct 26.

The spokesperson posted it after India’s defense minister Rajnath Singh said on Oct 24 at an event in New Delhi that "India and China have been involved in talks, both at military and diplomatic levels, to resolve differences in certain areas along the LAC.”

Calling it a “significant development, the Indian defense minister said a broad consensus has been achieved to restore the ground situation”.

The writer is a freelance journalist for China Daily.