PM Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping exchange greetings at G20 dinner, no meeting scheduled

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping Tuesday exchanged greetings at G20 dinner hosted by Indonesian President Joko Widodo in Bali, Indonesia. This is the first such engagement since the 2020 Galwan Valley incident in which 20 Indian soldiers were martyred.

Both leaders shook hands at the side event at the G20 Summit, a gesture drawing some attention because of the strained relations between the two neighbouring countries over the Galwan Valley clash.

WATCH  Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets Chinese President Xi Jinping and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at G20 dinner hosted by Indonesian President Joko Widodo in Bali, Indonesia.

(Source Reuters) pic.twitter.com/nZorkq4R1Y

— ANI (@ANI) November 15, 2022

There had been some speculation over a possible bilateral meeting between the two leaders on the margins of the Group of 20 Summit, which began Tuesday. But the agenda made known by both sides so far does not slot such a meeting.

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In September, Prime Minister Modi and President Xi came face-to-face at the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Uzbek city of Samarkand for the first time since the start of the border standoff in eastern Ladakh. There was no report of a handshake or exchange of pleasantries between Modi and Xi at that time.