BRICS Summit: Hopes high for a Modi-Jinping bilateral on the sidelines in Kazan !

Hopes high for a Modi-Jinping bilateral on the sidelines in Kazan !
New Delhi drops hints as “patrolling resume” along LAC
Delhi Crown Bureau
New Delhi: Perhaps for the first time in over four-and-a-half years (post Galwan in June 2020), the Indian Government has dropped hints of a possibility of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s bilateral with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Kazan, Russia, on the sidelines of BRICS Summit.
Though not in as many words…!
Replying a reporter’s question about the same, India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on Monday (Oct. 21) said, “In recent weeks, diplomatic and military discussions between India and China have been ongoing. We are still coordinating the timing and details for any bilateral engagements.”
On the other hand, China’s Foreign Ministry ducked questions on a possible meeting between the two leaders. “We will keep you posted if anything comes up,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said while replying to a question at a media briefing in Beijing.
Briefing media persons at Ministry of External Affairs’ office, Misiri said that both the sides had mutually agreed on re-starting patrolling of troops, including in Depsang Plains and Demchok – the two most crucial points of bilateral conflict, particularly since 2020.
In tandem came a rather mellowed down reaction from External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, who described it as “a positive development.”
“We reached an agreement in patrolling and with that the disengagement….you know we have gone back to where the situation was in 2020. So you can say that the disengagement process with China has been completed,” Jaishankar was seen as saying in an interview with a prominent TV channel.
Compared to his today’s utterances vis-à-vis China, Jaishankar was one who had been taking a “strong stance” since 2020.
Situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) has been tense since the infamous 2020 Galwan clash between the two sides resulting in military casualties on both sides. Thereafter, both sides held multiple rounds of diplomatic and military discussions. The marathon talks finally resulted in the two neighbours agreeing to resume patrolling along the LAC.
The positive development assumes significance even as it came just ahead of Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Russia today for the 16th BRICS Summit, from October 22-24.
In the words of Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, “As a result of the discussions that have taken place over the last several weeks, an agreement has been arrived at on patrolling 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.”
Depsang Plains and Demchok were the two friction points along the LAC where the patrolling would resume.
BRICS originally consisted of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, even as other countries like Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates were admitted as new members.