International: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping will hold a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Russia on Wednesday. The External Affairs Ministry confirmed the major development during a press conference in Kazan. "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," said Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri.

Notably, this will be the first meeting between the two leaders after the Galwan Valley clash in 2020. However, both had an opportunity for brief interaction at least twice-- first, on the sidelines of the G20 summit at Bali in Indonesia in November 2022 and then during the BRICS summit at Johannesburg in South Africa in August 2023. During the brief interactions, both agreed to step up efforts to resolve the military stand-off along the LAC. 

India-China border clash

The Indian and Chinese militaries have been locked in the standoff since May 2020 and a full resolution of the border row has not yet been achieved though the two sides have disengaged from a number of friction points.

The ties between the two countries 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. India has been maintaining that its ties with China cannot be normal unless there is peace in the border areas.

In all negotiations since the standoff began, India has been pressing the People's Liberation Army (PLA) to disengage from the Depsang and Demchok areas. Last month, Jaishankar said roughly 75 per cent of the "disengagement problems" with China are sorted out but the bigger issue has been the increasing militarisation of the frontier.

China confirms agreement with India to end standoff 

Ahead of Prime Minister Modi's visit to Kazan, Misri said in New Delhi on Monday that Indian and Chinese negotiators have reached an agreement on patrolling along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh. Later on Tuesday, the same was echoed by Beijing. “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,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told a media briefing here. “Now the two sides have reached a resolution on the relevant matters which China speaks highly of,” he said.