BRICS summit: Xi and Modi agree to intensify efforts for expeditious disengagement along LAC

Briefing reporters on the Prime Minister’s engagements during the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra confirmed that a conversation between Prime Minister Modi and President Xi took place on the sidelines of the Summit.

“In a conversation with President Xi Jinping of China, Prime Minister (Modi) highlighted India’s concerns on the unresolved issues along the LAC in the western sector of the India-China border area. The Prime Minister underlined that maintenance of peace and tranquillity in the border areas and observing and respecting the LAC are essential for the normalisation of the India-China relationship.”

PM Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg on Thursday. (ANI)

“In this regard, the two leaders agreed to direct their relevant officials to intensify efforts at expeditious disengagement and de-escalation,” Kwatra said.

Indian officials said there was no scheduled bilateral meeting between the two leaders.

Modi and Xi were present at the BRICS leaders’ retreat, hosted by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, on Tuesday night as well.

In a video webcast Thursday by the South African Broadcasting Corporation, the Summit host broadcaster, Modi was seen chatting with Xi, and they shook hands after the joint media statements.

No interpreters or note-takers were around when the two leaders spoke to each other.

This was their first in-person meeting since their brief conversation at the G20 Summit dinner in Bali in November 2022. That conversation — the first since the border standoff began in May 2020 — was initially described as a mere exchange of courtesies.

Last month, after the Chinese Foreign Ministry mentioned the “important consensus” between the two leaders at the Bali Summit, India confirmed that Modi and Xi had spoken on the “need to stabilise bilateral relations”.

But this time, at the Foreign Secretary’s briefing, the Indian side described the nature of the conversation between the two leaders. There was no readout from the Chinese side until Thursday night.

The conversation between the two leaders and the agreement to step up efforts for early disengagement of troops holds the prospect of moving the needle forward – ties between India and China nosedived following incursions by the Chinese PLA in eastern Ladakh in May 2020.

In recent days, commanders of the two countries have held a series of talks to resolve issues relating to the military standoff. Since mid-July, the two sides have had a series of conversations at multiple levels — between their Foreign Ministers, National Security Advisors, Corps Commanders, Major Generals and other commanders on the ground.