New Delhi: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping are set to hold their first bilateral meeting in five years on Wednesday, according to Indian officials. This meeting comes just days after the two countries reached an agreement on their disputed border.
The talks will occur on the sidelines of the three-day BRICS summit, hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin in Kazan, Russia. This signals a possible easing of tensions between the neighbors following the 2020 border clashes.
“There will be a bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Modi and President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the BRICS summit,” said senior Indian foreign ministry official Vikram Misri late Tuesday.
The last formal face-to-face meeting between the two leaders took place in Mahabalipuram, India, in October 2019. However, relations soured in 2020 after a violent clash along their disputed Himalayan border in Ladakh, resulting in the deaths of at least 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese soldiers.
China and India, longstanding rivals, have frequently accused each other of attempting to seize territory along their unofficial border, the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
Tensions have eased since both countries withdrew tens of thousands of troops and agreed not to send patrols into a narrow buffer zone. On Monday, India announced a new agreement with China on patrolling arrangements, marking progress in reducing the military standoff.
While Prime Minister Modi and President Xi briefly met at the G20 summit in Bali in 2022 and again in Johannesburg in 2023, India has insisted that relations cannot fully normalize until the pre-2020 status quo is restored at the Ladakh frontier.
In the past four years, New Delhi has restricted Chinese investments in key Indian sectors and banned hundreds of Chinese apps, including TikTok. At the same time, India has strengthened its ties with the Quad, a U.S.-led alliance with Australia and Japan, aimed at countering China’s influence in the Asia-Pacific region.
India has also eased regulations for Western companies to invest in and co-produce military equipment within the country. Beijing is now expected to push for the restoration of economic ties and greater access for Chinese companies in India’s rapidly growing market.
