New Delhi: In a potentially significant diplomatic development, Indian and Chinese leadership are expected to hold bilateral discussions for the first time since the fatal border clash at Galwan Valley in June 2020. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping are likely to meet on the sidelines of the upcoming BRICS summit being hosted in India, marking the first direct engagement between the two leaders in over four years.
The last time Modi and Xi sat across from each other for a formal bilateral discussion was in March 2020, during the BRICS virtual summit — nearly three months before the brutal hand-to-hand combat at Galwan that claimed the lives of 20 Indian soldiers and an unknown number of Chinese troops. Since then, military-level talks have continued under the Framework for Resolution of the Boundary Question and Working Mechanism for Consultation and Discussion, but no high-level political dialogue has taken place between the two heads of government.
Sources familiar with the matter indicated that both New Delhi and Beijing have signaled openness to a face-to-face encounter at the BRICS platform, which India is hosting for the first time as a member of the expanded bloc. The meeting, if confirmed, would represent the highest-level diplomatic contact between the two Asian giants since the Galwan incident and could signal a tentative thaw in relations that have remained frozen since the standoff along the Line of Actual Control.
Diplomatic observers note that India has consistently maintained that any improvement in ties must be linked to the disengagement and de-escalation process along the Ladakh border. Over the past few months, both sides have made incremental progress in breaking the deadlock at several friction points in the eastern Ladakh sector, though a comprehensive agreement remains elusive. The proposed bilateral meeting will likely focus on stabilizing the border situation and exploring frameworks for resuming broader political and economic engagement.
China has been actively courting its BRICS partners, and Beijing is believed to view a bilateral meeting with India as an opportunity to project normalcy and ease international pressure surrounding the border dispute. Analysts suggest that Xi Jinping may be motivated to engage with Modi given China's own economic slowdown and its desire to avoid prolonged confrontations on multiple fronts.
India's Ministry of External Affairs has not yet officially confirmed the meeting, adhering to its policy of neither confirming nor denying diplomatic engagements until they materialize. However, the timing coincides with a broader period of cautious optimism in India-China ties, including the partial withdrawal of Chinese troops from several disputed areas and renewed discussions on restoring trade channels and visa facilities for business travelers.
The outcome of the proposed meeting will be closely watched not only by regional actors like Pakistan and Nepal but also by Western capitals, particularly Washington and Brussels, which have been keen to see whether India can manage its strategic autonomy while deepening partnerships with democratic nations through the Quad and other multilateral frameworks.
