File photo: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met at the Brics summit.

Stronger India-China ties are strategically important for the two countries and the wider Global South, a Chinese journalist said on Sunday, a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping reaffirmed their commitment to stabilising bilateral relations on the sidelines of the Brics summit in New Delhi.Speaking to news agency ANI, Qingduo U, a journalist with Chinese state broadcaster CGTN, said the size of India and China’s populations and economies made their relationship one of the world’s most consequential.“China and India probably have the most consequential relationship in the world, as well as in BRICS,” he said, stressing that both countries needed to stabilise their ties and take a long-term view of the relationship.He welcomed the Brics push for a more representative global order, saying the rise of the Global South made greater representation in institutions such as the United Nations Security Council, International Monetary Fund and World Bank a “reasonable demand”.“Multipolarity, or multipolar development, is here. It’s irreversible. There’s a rise of the Global South, which is unstoppable. That’s the reality,” he said, calling for reforms to make the global order “more balanced, more representative, and more just”.On the PM Modi-Xi meeting, Qingduo said the two leaders had demonstrated a “strategic vision and long-term perspective” by stressing peace and tranquillity along the India-China border.PM Modi and President Xi on Saturday expressed commitment to a “fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable” resolution of the boundary question and agreed that bilateral ties should be viewed from a strategic and long-term perspective. PM Modi said differences between the two countries should not become disputes and that the relationship should be guided by mutual respect, sensitivity and interest, according to the ministry of external affairs.Meanwhile, Gaziza Uzak, head of Kazakhstan’s NazarMedia and a member of the country’s Union of Journalists, praised India’s leadership of the Brics summit and said the gathering offered countries an opportunity to strengthen cooperation.

“We support Modi’s programme because I think he speaks more good and best information for us to save our planet and to make our lives and our relationships better,” she said.Nigerian journalist Emperor Simon of Channels Television also described the summit as an important forum for Brics members and partner countries to discuss global challenges and future cooperation.The two-day summit is being hosted by India on September 12-13 under the chairship theme, “Building for resilience, innovation, cooperation and sustainability.”