Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held their first bilateral meeting on Wednesday, October 23, after a gap of five years. The meeting coincided with the BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) summit in Russia.
According to Chinese state media, President Xi Jinping told PM Modi that there is a need to strengthen communication and cooperation between the two countries.
“The two sides should strengthen communication and cooperation, properly handle divergences and differences, and realize each other’s development dreams,” President Xi Jinping said.
The meeting between the two leaders comes after a gap of five years. In October 2019, a structured meeting which was held during their second informal summit in Mamallapuram in Chennai.
In November 2022, Modi and Xi Jinping exchanged pleasantries and held a brief conversation at a dinner hosted by the Indonesian President for the G20 leaders.
In August last year too, President Xi Jinping and PM Modi held a brief and informal conversation in Johannesburg on the sidelines of the BRICS summit.
Border patrolling agreement
The meeting comes two days after diplomats of the neighbouring countries reached an agreement on patrolling along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) to end the four-year-long border confrontation that led to a fatal crash in the Galwan Valley.
The talks are expected to result in disengagement along the border.
Confirming the agreement, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told reporters, “Over the past few weeks, China and India have been in close communication through diplomatic and military channels on issues related to the China-India border. Now, the two sides have reached a resolution on the relevant matters which China speaks highly of going forward, China will work with India to implement these resolutions.”
Modi, Xi seek to boost ties at BRICS summit
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met on the sidelines of the BRICS summit on Wednesday.
The meeting followed an agreement earlier in the week between the two countries to patrol their disputed border, four years after a military standoff heightened tensions between the two.
Indian and Chinese troops clashed in the worst fight in decades in the summer of 2020, which led to casualties on both sides.
Both countries stationed tens of thousands of troops along their disputed frontier in the northern Ladakh region following the violence.
Modi and Xi tout mutual trust and respect in meeting
"India-China relations are important for the people of our countries, and for regional and global peace and stability. Mutual trust, mutual respect and mutual sensitivity will guide bilateral relations," Modi tweeted after meeting Xi.
"The two sides should strengthen communication and cooperation, properly handle divergences and differences, and realize each other's development dreams," state broadcaster CCTV reported Xi as saying.
Modi and Xi had previously spoken briefly on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali in November 2022 and exchanged courtesies.
They spoke again on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Johannesburg in August 2023 but ended up releasing different versions of the conversation, indicating the two sides didn't see eye to eye.
Xi skipped the G20 summit hosted by New Delhi the following month, a decision seen as another setback to their relations.
Russia, holder of the rotating BRICS presidency and heavily sanctioned by the West, is using this year's summit to demonstrate its role as a key global player in part by bringing together the leaders of the world's two most populous countries
Putin says 'multipolar order' in the making
Putin said on Wednesday that "over 30 countries have expressed the desire" to join the bloc which welcomed new members in 2023. All six countries officiallyjoined the bloc earlier this year.
"The process of forming a multipolar world order is underway, a dynamic and irreversible process," Putin said at the opening of the summit in Kazan on Wednesday.
"It would be wrong to ignore the unprecedented interest of the countries of the Global South and East in strengthening contacts with BRICS," Putin told leaders.
Putin also said the grouping would also discuss "acute regional conflicts," meaning the conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine.
Modi says BRICS ready to face global challenges
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in remarks that the bloc "represents 40% of the world's humanity and about 30% of the economy."
"BRICS has achieved many things in the last two decades. I am confident that in the coming times, this organization will emerge as a more effective medium to face global challenges," he said.
Modi also said he welcomed efforts to increase financial integration among members of the grouping. "Trading in local currency and easy cross-border payments will strengthen our economic cooperation," he said.
Russia has specifically pushed for BRICS countries to build an alternative platform for international payments that would be immune to Western sanctions. Russia was kicked out of the international SWIFT payment system following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
