Narendra Modi-Xi Jinping bilateral meeting during BRICS on cards

New Delhi, August 20

There is a strong possibility of a structured meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping this week in South Africa, where the two leaders will attend the BRICS summit.

This will be the first in-person summit between the two leaders since the Galwan Valley clash in 2020. Last year, PM Modi and Xi attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Samarkand but did not interact while they had a brief conversation at the G20 Bali summit, also last year.

The Chinese envoy to South Africa, Chen Xiaodong, was positive about the meeting, telling the media: “I am confident that as two nations, two countries, we will have direct talks, direct meetings. I cannot say there is tension between us, but as neighbouring countries, we have many common interests at the same time we have some problems.” PM Modi will reach Johannesburg on August 22 while Xi will arrive a day earlier on August 21. Significantly, the India-China 19th corps commander-level meeting was held for two days on August 13 and 14, followed by a joint statement, which is seen as a positive sign.

As the G20 summit will be held barely a fortnight after the BRICS summit, PM Modi at the bilateral meeting will try to elicit more cooperation from Xi so that a Joint Statement can be issued. All G20 Ministerials held under India’s Presidency have had to settle for the “Chair’s summary” because of blocking by China and Russia on paras relating to Ukraine.