Despite China’s assertion that India requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping to meet during the BRICS summit in South Africa, top government officials denied this and stated that there was a “pending request from the Chinese side.”
Government sources stated that there was a pending request for a bilateral meeting from China. However, according to the sources, the two presidents engaged in a “informal conversation” in the presidents Lounge at the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg.
The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi requested a conversation with President Xi Jinping on August 23, which took place outside of the BRICS conference, according to the Chinese foreign ministry.
The two leaders in the meeting decided to strive for “expeditious de-escalation” along the entire Line of Actual Control (LAC), where tensions have been high since June 2020, when the two sides fought in eastern Ladakh’s Galwan Valley.
Additionally, they decided to instruct representatives in their nations to push for a quick disengagement along the LAC.
On the sidelines of the BRICS Summit, President Xi Jinping and I had a conversation. The Prime Minister spoke with other BRICS presidents. The Prime Minister brought up India’s concerns over unresolved issues along the LAC and other locations along the India-China border in his talk with President Xi Jinping, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra told reporters on Thursday.
The statement from President Xi emphasised that “improving China-India relations serves the common interests of the two countries and peoples, and also contributes to world peace, stability, and regional development.”
In the meantime, Modi brought up India’s concerns about the unresolved issues along the LAC when speaking to Xi, according to a briefing by the country’s foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra on Thursday.
According to Kwatra, “The prime minister emphasised that the preservation of peace and tranquilly in the border areas, as well as adhering to and respecting the LAC, are essential for the normalisation of the India-China relationship.”
The speaker continued, “In this regard, two leaders agreed to direct relevant officials to step up efforts at swift disengagement and de-escalation.”
India and China are at odds with one another.
Following the bloody fight in the Galwan Valley in June 2020 that resulted in the deaths of numerous soldiers, relations between India and China took a sharp turn for the worse. The war has been noted as the two sides’ most significant military conflict in decades. In order to address the boundary disputes, both nations have since held military-level discussions.
The 19th round of conversations between corps commanders was recently held between the two armies. The two parties “agreed to resolve the remaining issues in an expeditious manner and maintain the momentum of dialogue and negotiations through military and diplomatic channels” during the discussions, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.
The statement also stated that “in the interim,” the two sides have agreed to keep the peace and tranquilly of the border regions.
