This will be the first physical presence meeting (In Person Summit) of BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) leaders after Covid-19. Asked whether Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping would hold talks on the sidelines of the BRICS summit, Foreign Secretary Kwatra told reporters that the Prime Minister’s bilateral meetings are still being finalised.
If this bilateral meeting takes place, it will be the first meeting between them after the border standoff in eastern Ladakh in May 2020. Modi and Xi had a brief face-off at the G-20 summit in Bali in November last year.
Meanwhile, local commander-level talks have continued in Depsang and Demchok in eastern Ladakh as part of the confidence building measures between the Indian Army and the Chinese PLA. Indian and Chinese troops have been locked in a standoff for over three years at some points of the standoff in eastern Ladakh. However, both sides have completed the withdrawal of troops from several areas after extensive diplomatic and military talks.
India and China held the 19th India-China Corps Commander-level meeting on 13-14 August at the Chushul-Moldo border meeting point on the Indian side. “Both sides held positive, constructive and in-depth discussions on resolution of outstanding issues along the LAC in the western sector,” the joint statement said.
According to sources in the know of the developments, the Major General-level talks are understood to have begun on Friday and mainly focussed on confidence building. Earlier, on July 24, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval met senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi on the sidelines of a BRICS meeting in Johannesburg. In its statement regarding the meeting, the Ministry of External Affairs had said that Doval conveyed that the situation along the Line of Actual Control in the western sector of the India-China border since 2020 has led to erosion of strategic trust and weakening of ties.
At the same time, Foreign Minister S Jaishankar had held talks with Chinese diplomat Wang Yi on the sidelines of the East Asian Summit in Jakarta last month. India has been maintaining that its relations with China cannot be normal until peace is maintained in the border areas. The standoff on the eastern Ladakh border started on May 5, 2020, following a violent clash in the Pangong lake area. Relations between the two countries were greatly affected after the skirmish in the Galvan Valley in June 2020.
