The tone of greetings for Modi conveys state of India-China ties

June 19, 2024

NEW DELHI – Neither Chinese President Xi Jinping, nor his Prime Minister, Li Qiang, initially sent any message of congratulations to Prime Minister Modi on his nomination for a historic third time. Qiang finally conveyed his greetings a day after the swearing in, fulfilling diplomatic norms. The Chinese foreign ministry issued a statement on their behalf, mentioning, ‘Congratulations to Prime Minister @narendramodi, on the election victory. We look forward to a healthy and stable China-India relationship.’ India’s Ministry of External Affairs responded by saying, ‘Will continue to pursue efforts towards normalisation of India-China ties based on mutual respect, mutual interest and mutual sensitivity.’

Both nations reiterated their own approach on bilateral ties. In 2019, President Xi had congratulated PM Modi on his re-election. In March this year, both Xi and Qiang greeted Shehbaz Sharief when he was selected as Pakistan’s PM. The message clearly is that Indo-China ties remain strained and whatever emerged was the bare diplomatic minimum. Simultaneously, there was a row between New Delhi and Beijing when Taiwanese president Lai Ching-te sent a message of congratulations to PM Modi. Lai’s greetings mentioned expanding ties which was responded to with similar thoughts by Modi. China objected, which was expected, to which the Indian MEA responded in similar measure. Even the US jumped into the fray mentioning that such ‘such congratulatory messages are the normal course of diplomatic business.’ Shehbaz Sharief maintained diplomatic courtesy by conveying his congratulations, post the swearing in.

PM Modi had done the same with Shehbaz on his ‘selection’ as PM. The message from Shehbaz was curt, mentioning,