As Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held their first bilateral meeting in five years in the Russian city of Kazan, the initial reaction of Chinese media was that “the China-India solution is an opportunity worth cherishing”. Although it may look like a “sudden development”, Chinese observers pointed out that a “quiet but significant” shift in China-India relations had already been underway in the past few months. In May, China appointed its new ambassador to India after a gap of 18 months. In July, the Chinese and Indian foreign ministers met twice within a month. Progress was also made in border affairs consultations as the two sides held the 30th and 31st border affairs consultations in New Delhi and Beijing, respectively, at the end of July and August. In September, Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with National Security Adviser Ajit Doval in St. Petersburg. All these developments laid the foundation for reaching a solution to the border issue and created favourable conditions for the Modi-Xi meeting.
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