Of course, even those who are not acquainted with the art of reading body language would testify that both the leaders were perfectly comfortable during their interactions all along. And they are learnt to have discussed the entire gamut of issues that concern India and China. For instance, the talks ranged from China’s One Road One Belt (OBOR) project and India’s candidature for the membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) to the revival of cultural and spiritual connect between the two great nations.

 

Sources say that the talks were marked by a candour and openness that was unprecedented in diplomacy. Irrespective of the content of the talks that may trigger speculation in the diplomatic circles, there is little doubt that Modi has carried with him a special brand of ‘personal diplomacy’ that clearly shed the “hesitations of history” on Indo-China relations. And no doubt that it is not achieved overnight.

 

There is a unique history behind it. Modi’s acquaintance with China was not new. During his pracharak days in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), he undertook a pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar along with a delegation. Those who accompanied him admit that he was most punctilious among the delegates, adhering to every rituals and tour plans and observing closely the spiritual and cultural aspects of India’s relations with China. That made an impression of China on Modi’s mind.

 

But the most critical phase came when he visited China twice as chief minister of Gujarat and invited Chinese industries to invest in the state. He was quite impressed by China’s rapid growth and had heart-to-heart interactions with top functionaries of the Chinese government. Though as a chief minister he did not have chance to meet the then Chinese president or premier, he was accorded special reception for shedding hesitation in inviting Chinese industries to Gujarat.

 

But two events after Modi’s ascension as the country’s prime minister in 2014 developed a warmth between him and Xi. Immediately after the victory, China’s foreign minister Wang Yi was the first one to visit him. This was followed by President Xi calling him for congratulations. Sources say that the first conversation between the two leaders was particularly interesting as Xi talked about Modi’s hometown Vadnagar and the region’s connect with his own hometown, Xia’n. When Modi invited him to India, Xi was learnt to have expressed his desire to visit Modi’s hometown. That was the background against which Xi’s first visit to India was planned. Despite the burden of historical hesitation over China, Modi played a perfect host and displayed his bonhomie with the Chinese president quite openly.

 

But this bonhomie seemed to be considerably overshadowed by Chinese incursion in Chumar village along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) that, significantly, coincided with Xi’s tour. During Xi’s sojourn in Ahmedabad in 2014, Modi raised it quite directly but subtly by asking “if is a dissonance between China’s political leadership and the army”. He was forthright in pointing out that high-profile bilateral visits to China or India were often marred by such indiscretions by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Xi promised to look into the matter and on his return, he addressed it quite deftly to the satisfaction of Modi. That’s how Xi and Modi built trust four each other.

 

Though the relations came under significant strain on the issues related to China’s reluctance to designate Pakistan’s Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) as terrorist organisation in the UN or barring India’s entry to NSG, Modi’s decision to challenge the PLA at Doka La conveyed an unambiguous message that India cannot be pushed around. Apparently, India held its ground at the standoff but avoided rhetoric resorted to by the Chinese foreign ministry and the state sponsored press. A day after the Doka La standoff was resolved, Modi’s participation in the BRICS meeting at Xiamen in September last year was announced. And after his interaction with Xi there, he returned home with the impression that India-China relations would acquire a new equilibrium after the  Communist Party  of China (CPC) Congress which would re-elect him not only as president but also establish him arguably as the most powerful Chinese leader after Mao Tse Tung. The CPC saw removal of two military generals – one of them close to Xi’s predecessor Hu Jin Tao – and ensured Xi’s total control over the military.

 

It was certainly not a mere coincidence that the government not only toned down its rhetoric on China but also mollified them on the question of the exiled Tibetan leader Dalai Lama. Apparently the government took a pragmatic view of not showing red rag to China by provocatively using Dalai Lama’s name. At the same time, back-channel diplomacy was used to set the stage for a successful two-day informal summit which marked a new beginning in the two countries’ relations. Just before the PM’s visit, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and her team did the groundwork.

 

Of course, Modi’s proclivity for “personal diplomacy” is not inconsistent with the practices of international diplomacy. During the World War II, Winston Churchill was believed to be a strong votary of this practice and carried on his “personal diplomacy combined with indefatigable self-belief” to borrow the phrase of scholars Alan P Dobson and Steve Marsh in their research paper on “Churchill and Anglo American special relationship”. In Churchill’s case, his personal diplomacy was primarily focused on to win over US President Franklin D Roosevelt on whom he famously divulged, “no lover ever studied every whim of his mistress as I did those of President Roosevelt”. However, Modi’s task is becoming more difficult as the world is getting increasingly multipolar with powerful leaders emerging in their own right in different parts of the globe.

 

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