Rajiv Gandhi's visit to China
Rajiv Gandhi’s visit to China
Relations between India and China worsened during the 1960s and 1970s, following the border issue that led to the India- China war of 1962. Chinese-Pakistani relations improved, with China backing Pakistan in its 1965 war with India. Chinese-Soviet relations were also worsening at the time. India signed the Treaty of Peace, Friendship, and Cooperation with the Soviet Union in 1971. The United States and China sided with Pakistan in its war with India in the same year.
Efforts to renew relations emerged after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. In the 1980s, there were eight rounds of border negotiations between India and China, though they achieved nothing given the charges exchanged between the countries of military encroachment on the eastern side of the border. Rajiv Gandhi's visit to China in December 1988, helped normalise relations between the two nations. The two sides issued a joint communiqué that stressed the need to restore friendly relations on the basis of the Panch Shila that had been signed in 1954. India and China agreed to broaden bilateral ties in various areas, working to achieve a "fair and reasonable settlement while seeking a mutually acceptable solution" to the border dispute. The communiqué also expressed China's concern about agitation by Tibetan separatists in India and reiterated China's position that Tibet was an integral part of China.
Rajiv Gandhi signed bilateral agreements on science and technology cooperation, on civil aviation to establish direct air links, and on cultural exchanges between the two countries. The two sides also agreed to hold annual diplomatic consultations between foreign ministers, and to set up a joint ministerial committee on economic and scientific cooperation and a joint working group on the boundary issue.
After Gandhi's visit to China, high level visits at and above ministerial level between the two countries increased significantly, and the bilateral exchanges in various fields expanded quickly.
