Modi-Xi bilateral today, first in 5 years, after China confirms LAC agreement

The meeting will take place on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia

Hours after China, without mentioning the agreement on patrolling along the Line of Actual Control, confirmed it had “reached a solution” and would “work with India” to “effectively implement” the plan, India announced Tuesday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping would hold a bilateral meeting Wednesday on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Kazan, capital of Tatarstan in Russia.

This will be the first bilateral meeting between the two leaders in five years — they met for an informal summit in Mahabalipuram in October 2019, months before the Chinese incursions in eastern Ladakh that triggered a military standoff along the LAC. They did have pull-aside meetings in Bali (2022) and Johannesburg (2023), but the meeting Wednesday will be the first proper and structured bilateral meeting.

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, briefing the media in Kazan, said, “I can confirm that there will be a bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping tomorrow on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit.”

On the patrolling arrangement, Misri said, “What it will entail is that in the pending areas under discussion, patrolling, and indeed grazing activities, wherever applicable, will revert to the situation as… in 2020… As far as the disengagement agreements reached previously are concerned, those agreements were not reopened in these discussions. The agreement that was reached yesterday, very early yesterday morning, was focused on issues that had remained outstanding in the last couple of years.”

Earlier in the day, China confirmed that “the two sides have reached a solution on the relevant matters, which China views positively”. It did not, however, mention the patrolling arrangement.

At a media briefing in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said, “Over a recent period of time, China and India have kept close communication through diplomatic and military channels on issues related to the China-India border.” Lin said the two sides have reached a solution on the “relevant matters”. He said China will work with India to implement it but declined to provide details.

The state-run Global Times said the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson “confirmed progress”.

Currently, the two sides have reached a solution on the relevant matters, which China views positively. In the next phase, China will work with India to effectively implement the solution plan,” it quoted Lin as telling the media briefing