Modi, Xi to hold meet in Russia day after standoff ends in Ladakh

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping will hold bilateral talks on Wednesday on the margins of the Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa (BRICS) summit in Russia, in their first structured meeting since the eastern Ladakh border row erupted in May 2020.

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri made the announcement, a day after India and China firmed up an agreement on patrolling by their militaries along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, in a major breakthrough to end the over four-year standoff.

"I can confirm that there will be a bilateral meeting between PM Modi and President Xi Jinping tomorrow (Wednesday) on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit," he said.

In November 2022, Modi and Xi exchanged pleasantries and held a brief conversation at a dinner hosted by the Indonesian President for the G20 leaders.

In August last year too, the Indian prime minister and the Chinese president held a brief and informal conversation in Johannesburg on the sidelines of the BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) summit.

The meeting between Modi and Xi will take place in Kazan, the venue for the BRICS summit.

Asked about the agreement on patrolling reached between India and China on Monday, Misri said the immediate focus will be on disengagement and then the issue of de-escalation and de-induction of troops will be taken up at an appropriate time.

What it will entail is that in the pending areas under discussion, patrolling and grazing activities, wherever applicable, will revert to the situation as it existed in 2020, he said.

The disengagement agreements reached previously were not reopened in these discussions and the pact reached early Monday morning focused on issues that had remained outstanding in the last couple of years, he said.

Asked to analyse the overall situation, Misri called it a premature question and noted the focus is to implement the agreement on the ground.

To another query, he said the arrangement worked out is expected to prevent clashes as happened in the past on the LAC.

We will have to make continuous efforts that the mechanisms of the agreement will be such that such clashes can be stopped, he said.

The ties between the two Asian giants nosedived significantly following the fierce clash in the Galwan Valley in June 2020 that marked the most serious military conflict between the two sides in decades.

The two sides disengaged from a number of friction points following a series of military and diplomatic talks in the last couple of years. However, the talks hit hurdles in resolving the situation in Depsang and Demchok.

It is understood the agreement announced on Monday will facilitate patrolling in the Depsang and Demchok areas.