NEW DELHI: With India and China reaching a significant breakthrough in their patrolling agreement along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), top officials from both nations faced a barrage of media inquiries regarding the possibility of a bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping during the upcoming BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, set to commence on Tuesday.
“We will keep you posted if anything comes up,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian while replying to a question at a press conference.
Indian foreign secretary Vikram Misri, on the other hand, said that there were several requests for a bilateral meet from different countries, however no decision had been made so far.
“We will update you on the bilateral as they evolve,” Misri said.
This came in the backdrop of India saying that two countries “have reached an agreement on patrolling arrangements along the LAC in border areas,” on which, again no comments were made by the neighbouring country.
“China stands ready to work with other parties to strive for the steady and sustained development of greater BRICS cooperation, open a new era for the Global South to seek strength through solidarity and jointly promote world peace and development,” Chinese spokesperson Mao Ning said.
The last formal bilateral meeting between two leaders was held during the BRICS summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, in August 2023. Prior to that, they had brief interactions on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, in November 2022. Since then, no formal meetings have taken place due to ongoing tensions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) following the Galwan Valley clash in June 2020.
Both PM Narendra Modi and Chinese Xi Jinping are set to attend the BRICS summit scheduled to start from Tuesday in Kazan.