Modi-Xi meeting at BRICS: What India said after bilateral talks with China
PM Modi met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Kazan during the BRICS Summit, marking the first formal interaction in five years.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday in Kazan, Russia, during the BRICS Summit. This meeting represents the first formal structured interaction between the two leaders in five years and comes after an agreement was reached to resume regular patrols along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh. (Live updates)
PM Modi's last formal bilateral meeting with Xi took place in October 2019 in Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu, just months before the June 2020 clashes in Galwan, which escalated tensions into a military standoff. Although they had brief encounters at the Group of 20 meeting in Bali in 2022 and again in Johannesburg in 2023, this marks a significant renewal of dialogue.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced on October 21 that an agreement had been reached concerning patrolling arrangements along the LAC in the India-China border regions.
India's full statement issued after the Modi-Xi meeting
Welcoming the recent agreement for complete disengagement and resolution of issues that arose in 2020 in the India-China border areas, Prime Minister Modi underscored the importance of properly handling differences and disputes and not allowing them to disturb peace and tranquility. The two leaders agreed that the Special Representatives on the India-China boundary question will meet at an early date to oversee the management of peace & tranquility in border areas and to explore a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution to the boundary question. The relevant dialogue mechanisms at the level of Foreign Ministers and other officials will also be utilized to stabilize and rebuild bilateral relations.
The two leaders affirmed that stable, predictable, and amicable bilateral relations between India and China, as two neighbors and the two largest nations on earth, will have a positive impact on regional and global peace and prosperity. It will also contribute to a multi-polar Asia and a multi-polar world. The leaders underlined the need to progress bilateral relations from a strategic and long-term perspective, enhance strategic communication and explore cooperation to address developmental challenges.