NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to hold a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping their first since the 2020 Galwan clash on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Russia’s Kazan on Wednesday.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on Tuesday said: “I can confirm that there will be a bilateral meeting held between PM Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping tomorrow on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit…”
The development comes days after the two neighbouring countries reached an agreement on patrolling along the nearly 3,500-km Line of Actual Control (LAC) to end the four-year-long border confrontation that led to a fatal clash in the Galwan Valley.
Earlier in the day, China confirmed the agreement that has been reached between New Delhi and Beijing on the patrolling arrangements along the Line of Actual Control in the India-China border areas.
“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,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told reporters during a daily media briefing in Beijing on Tuesday.
On Monday, Foreign Secretary Misri reflected on the longstanding issue, with a nearly identical statement.
“I can share with you that over the last several weeks, Indian and Chinese diplomatic and military negotiators have been in close contact with each other in a variety of forums. And as a result of these discussions, agreement has been arrived at on patrolling arrangements along the Line of Actual Control in the India-China border areas, leading to disengagement and a resolution of the issues that had arisen in these areas in 2020. And we will be taking the next steps on this,” Misri had told reporters in New Delhi.
Since the Galwan clash, the two leaders have only one formal meeting which was held on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in South Africa’s Johannesburg in August 2023. There has also been a brief informal interaction during the G20 summit in Indonesia’s Bali.