PM Modi in South Africa for BRICS Summit amid buzz over meet with China’s Xi Jinping

Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed in South Africa on Tuesday evening to participate in the three-day BRICS summit that begins from today. PM Modi’s visit comes amid rumours of a possible bilateral meeting with China’s Xi Jinping.

The Prime Minister will join China, Russia and hosts South Africa for the first in-person BRICS summit since 2019; the last three were held online due to the Covid-19 pandemic

On the possibility of a bilateral meeting with President Jinping on the sidelines of the summit, India on Monday said PM Modi’s schedule is “still being worked out”. “We have a positive intent and an open mind when it comes to BRICS expansion,” Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said.

PM Modi’s first official engagement will be at 4 pm local time (7.30 pm IST) – the BRICS’ Business Forum Leaders’ Dialogue. The Prime Minister is scheduled to address the gathering for 10 minutes at 4.30 pm; President Jinping’s 10-minute address is slotted for immediately afterwards. He will then attend the BRICS Leaders Retreat that will see Russian President Vladimir Putin participate via a video link. Possible topics for discussion at this event will be global developments and the BRICS membership expansion issue.

Earlier in the day, PM Modi while leaving for the summit, said he hoped the meeting would provide a useful opportunity for all members to “identify future areas of cooperation”. … BRICS has become a platform for discussing and deliberating on issues of concern for the Global South.”

Speculation about a possible Modi-Jinping bilateral meet on the summit’s sidelines comes as Indian and Chinese troops remain locked in confrontation in parts of eastern Ladakh despite disengagement at some others following extensive diplomatic and military talks.

Bilateral ties between India and China deteriorated to its lowest ebb following a fierce clash in Ladakh’s Galwan Valley in June 2020 that marked the most serious military conflict between the two countries in decades.

After several rounds of military and diplomatic-level talks, the two sides completed the disengagement process in 2021. However, India maintains that diplomatic ties with China cannot be normal unless there is peace and tranquillity in the border areas.

Given that the bilateral meet between PM Modi and Xi Jinping takes place, it will be their first since the India-China border standoff began in May 2020. The two leaders had briefly met last year in November — at the G20 dinner hosted by Indonesian President Joko Widodo in Bali.