BRICS Summit: PM Modi, Xi Jinping hold first bilateral in 5 years days after border deal

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is holding a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday (October 23) on the sidelines of Brics Summit in Russia.

This is the first meeting between Modi and Xi in the past five years. Following the Chinese aggression in early 2020 that triggered the yearslong military stand-off in Ladakh, the India-China relationship fell to its worst state since 1962 when China invaded and defeated India in a brief war.

Modi and Xi are meeting after reaching an agreement regarding the withdrawal of troops deployed in Ladakh and the resumption of patrolling the way it happened before the standoff began.

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What did the two discuss?

Chinese state media CCTV reported that Jinping told PM Modi that China and India should strengthen their cooperation as they met on the sidelines of a BRICS gathering in Russia, Chinese state media reported Wednesday.

“The two sides should strengthen communication and cooperation, properly handle divergences and differences, and realize each other’s development dreams,” he said.

#WATCH | Kazan, Russia: During the bilateral meeting with PM Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping says, "...It's important for both sides to have more communication and cooperation, properly handle our differences and disagreements, and to facilitate each other's pursuit of… pic.twitter.com/1QRRw31QuD

— ANI (@ANI) October 23, 2024

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Meanwhile, PM Modi said, “We are having a formal meeting after 5 years. We believe that the India-China relationship is very important not only for our people but also for global peace, stability and progress.”

In one of his first comments on the withdrawal of troops from LAC, the prime minister said, “We welcome the consensus reached on the issues that have arisen in the last 4 years on the border. Maintaining peace and stability on the border should remain our priority. Mutual trust, mutual respect and mutual sensitivity should remain the basis of our relations.”

#WATCH | During the bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Kazan, Russia, Prime Minister Narendra Modi says "We are having a formal meeting after 5 years. We believe that the India-China relationship is very important not only for our people but also for global… pic.twitter.com/m5JYAbpqdD

— ANI (@ANI) October 23, 2024

‘Mutual trust, respect and sensitivity’

Talking about his meeting with Xi Jinping, PM Modi said on X, “India-China relations are important for the people of our countries, and for regional and global peace and stability. Mutual trust, mutual respect and mutual sensitivity will guide bilateral relations."

Met President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Kazan BRICS Summit.

India-China relations are important for the people of our countries, and for regional and global peace and stability.

Mutual trust, mutual respect and mutual sensitivity will guide bilateral relations. pic.twitter.com/tXfudhAU4b

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 23, 2024

India-China ties

For years, the Modi government sought to stabilise the relationship with China. Two notable summits were also held in China’s Wuhan and Mahabalipuram in India. However, China never stopped incursions, whether in Ladakh in the western sector of the de-facto border Line of Actual Control (LAC) or in the eastern sector. In 2017, China triggered a monthslong stand-off at the India-Bhutan-China tri-junction.

Even as these episodes continued and were resolved over time, the Chinese aggression in 2020 was much bigger in scale. India and China deployed several thousands of troops along with war-waging equipment like tanks, armoured vehicles, artillery, warplanes, etc. While China insisted that the border tensions should not affect the broader bilateral relationship, India stated that peace and tranquility at the border is the basis of the broader bilateral relationship.

In recent months, there were a series of high-level meetings between India and China that led to speculations that an understanding on the Ladakh stand-off may be on the cards and, following the finalisation of such an understanding, the leaders of two countries may have a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Brics Summit in Russia.