On the sidelines of the 15th BRICS Summit held in Johannesburg, South Africa, the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, and the President of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Xi Jinping, had their first direct interaction and conversation with each other in over a period of nine months, on August 23, 2023.
This was their first direct interaction that has been revealed publicly since they apparently exchanged remarks in the month of November 2022 in Indonesia.
Modi and Xi together participated in various BRICS events for a large part of the last three days. They took part in the two sessions of the plenary meeting and also attended the formal and official dinner in the evening.
Indian Angle
At a press conference, the Foreign Secretary of India, Vinay Mohan Kwatra, said that during the conversation, PM Modi underlined and highlighted India’s concerns on the unresolved issues along the Western sector and frontier of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and other border areas.
PM Modi enlightened that the maintenance of peace and tranquillity at the borders and observing and respecting the LAC are essential for the normalization of ties and relations between the two Asian giants.
The top Indian Diplomat said that there was an understanding from both leaders for an early resolution of the standoff. “In this regard, the two leaders agreed to direct their relevant officials to intensify the efforts at disengagement and de-escalation, he said.
China Angle
The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said that “President Xi Jinping stressed that improving the China-India relations serves the common interests of the two countries and peoples and is also conducive to peace, stability and development of the world and the region. The two sides should bear in mind the overall interests of their bilateral relationship and properly handle the border issue so as to jointly safeguard peace and tranquillity in the border region.”
In contrast to the Indian Statement, the Chinese rendition omitted any reference to unresolved issues at the LAC. Neither did it mention that there was an agreement between the two leaders towards expeditious disengagement and de-escalation, as stated by India. Xi also reiterated the Chinese view that the border standoff should not impact the overall relationship.
Friction between India and China
India and China have been involved in a military standoff at multiple points on the LAC in Eastern Ladakh since May 2020, which resulted in the death of 20 Indian troops, including Colonel Santosh Babu of the Bihar Regiment of Indian Army.
After multiple rounds of military and diplomatic talks, there has been the withdrawal of troops at around four friction points, which has resulted in the creation of buffer zones where neither country is allowed to patrol. It essentially meant that the Indian Army could not patrol at around 26 points that they had access to before the standoff.
However, there are still two strategic points from which India and China have failed to gain an understanding, such as Depsang and Demchok. India claimed that the surge of Chinese troops at those points in these areas was linked to the three-year-old standoff, China insisted that these were legacy issues from the boundary disputes and should not be included in the discussions concerning the ongoing border crisis.
Since 18 August 2023, senior Indian and Chinese military commanders have engaged in a series of back discussions at the Major General level that were seen as a scene setter for a much-anticipated bilateral meeting between Modi and Xi at the BRICS Summit 2023.
The foreign secretary’s mention of the word ‘conversation’ was a change from the situation last time when the two leaders had talked with each other at the dinner for the G-20 summit in Bali, Indonesia. Despite a photo showing Modi and Xi standing and talking with each other, Kwatra had then only mentioned that there was an exchange of pleasantries and gifts.
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