PM Modi to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping for crucial bilateral talks today

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping (File image)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping will hold a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS summit today, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said at a press briefing on October 22.

“I can confirm that there will be a bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Modi and Chinese President Jinping tomorrow,” Misri said.

The meeting between the two leaders will be closely watched as it comes in the backdrop of India and China making significant headway in the border conflict along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh.

Do Not Miss | India, China LAC breakthrough: What will change on the ground?

Ties between India and China plunged in the aftermath of the 2020 military escalation in Galwan valley, which resulted in the death of 20 Indian troops and an undisclosed number of Chinese soldiers. The clashes marked the most serious military conflict between the two sides in decades.

However, just ahead of Modi’s visit to Russia, India announced it has reached an agreement with China on patrolling along the LAC, which will lead to disengagement in at least two crucial sectors.

Commenting on the development, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said, "...In the pending areas under discussion, patrolling and indeed grazing activities, wherever applicable, will revert to the situation as it obtained in 2020...As far as the disengagement agreements reached previously are concerned, those agreements were not reopened in these discussions. The agreement that was reached yesterday was focused on issues that had remained outstanding in the last couple of years..."

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached Kazan on Tuesday to take part in the 16th BRICS Summit, being held under the chairmanship of Russia.

In his departure statement, PM Modi said that India values close cooperation within BRICS which has emerged as an important platform for dialogue and discussion on a range of key issues concerning global developmental agenda.