PM Modi, Xi Jinping to hold bilateral meet tomorrow, first since LAC agreement

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese president Xi Jinping will hold bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Russia's Kazan on Wednesday, foreign secretary Vikram Misri said on Tuesday.

“I can confirm that there will be a bilateral meeting held between Prime Minister Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping tomorrow on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit,” Misri was quoted by ANI as saying.

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Modi-Xi bilateral talks day after LAC agreement

It will be the first meeting between the two leaders after India and China reached an agreement on patrolling along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh. 

It is a breakthrough in ending the over four-year-long military standoff between the two countries. 

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“As a result of the discussions that have taken place over the last several weeks an agreement has been arrived at on patroling arrangements along the line of actual control in the India-China border area and this is leading to dis-engagement and eventually a resolution of the issues that had arisen in these areas in 2020,” the foreign secretary said on Monday. 

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Tuesday,"Over a recent period, China and India have been in close communication through diplomatic and military channels on issues related to the China-India border. Now, the two sides have reached a resolution on the relevant matters."

The ties between the two Asian giants nosedived significantly following the fierce clash in the Galwan Valley in June 2020 that marked the most serious military conflict between the two sides in decades.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday said Indian and Chinese soldiers will be able to resume patrolling in the way they had been doing before the border face-off began.