Modi, Xi Jinping to attend BRICS Summit in November

Amid rising border tensions between India and China in Ladakh, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping will be face to face virtually on November 17 at BRICS Meet.

It is for the first time that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping will be having a meeting since the standoff along the Line of Actual Control(LAC) in Ladakh.

Earlier on September 17, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval had attended a virtual meeting of top security officials of five-nation grouping BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, and China). The Chinese side was represented by State Councillor Yang Jiechi.

The meeting that was hosted by Russia exchanged views on combating terrorism and extremism. Global and security issues were also discussed in the meet.

The theme of the meeting of the leaders of BRICS countries this time would be “BRICS Partnership for Global Stability, Shared Security and Innovative Growth”.

India and China have been locked in a bitter battle along the Ladakh border for the last 5 months. On June 15 a violent skirmish had taken place between Indian and Chinese forces in the Galwan valley. Twenty Indian soldiers were killed despite both sides denying to have fired any shots. The Chinese side, however, refrained from making the loses official.

Since then both sides have amassed heavy troops along the LAC besides hundreds of artillery guns, tanks, armoured personnel vehicles and air defence systems. The Indian Air Force and Navy have been put on full operational alert.