The news adds to previous announcements and could lead to a bilateral summit between Narendra Modi and Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Brics summit being held in Kazan, Russia, in which Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia and the Emirates are participating for the first time. United Arabs. Negotiations between Delhi and Beijing over the past four years have ended in a deadlock and experts say the disputes are far from being resolved at the diplomatic level.
Kazan (/Agencies) – India and China announced that they had reached an agreement on patrolling the disputed region of Ladakh, where the armies of both countries clashed in June 2020 with a balance of 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese dead. The Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the news yesterday, shortly before the arrival of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Kazan, Russia, where the Brics summit is taking place from today until October 24. , the group of countries created in 2009 and initially composed of Brazil, Russia, India, China, which was later joined by South Africa.
In the last four years, tensions between China and India along the 3,000 kilometer border (what is called the Line of Actual Control or LAC) have forced the two countries to move their respective troops to avoid new clashes and reduce patrol activities. Under the agreement, Delhi and Beijing will follow an agreed program of patrolling the disputed areas.
Commenting on the news to local media, External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar stated: “We have returned to the situation of 2020 and we can say that China’s withdrawal process has been completed.” He added that “peace and tranquility” is needed so that bilateral relations can move forward. However, the Chief of Army Staff of India, General Upendra Dwivedi, at a conference organized by the United Service Institution of India, explained that China and India are trying to “reestablish trust”, but new phases of de-escalation must follow.
The announcement of the agreement is likely to be a prelude to a bilateral meeting, on the sidelines of the BRICS summit, between Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, although issues between China and India are far from over, experts say. been resolved. The agreement is “a step towards normality”, but “it is not yet a true agreement”, commented Farwa Aamer, director of South Asia Initiatives at think tank Asia Society.
A possible dialogue between Modi and Xi would be more of a success for Russian President Vladimir Putin, host of the event. Last yearat the BRICS meeting in Johannesburg, Modi and Xi also said they had spoken and agreed to commit to reducing tension over the Line of Actual Control. And in September, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval discussed the dispute in St. Petersburg during a security meeting for high-level officials from the BRICS countries. In the last four years, more than 30 rounds of border negotiations have taken place between Chinese and Indian authorities that ended in a stalemate.
Putin’s intention is to offer a platform for cooperation to countries that may have an interest in moving away from the West. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will not attend the Kazan summit (apparently due to an injury during a domestic accident), but the “new” Brics (the countries that joined in January of this year) will participate for the first time. year): Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates.
Also present will be the Secretary General of the UN, Antonio Guterres, and the heads of State or Government of the countries that have been invited to join the group: Belarus (ally of Russia), Kazakhstan (which in recent days has said that does not yet want to apply for membership) and Turkey (which is also part of NATO and seems interested in developing economic relations with Moscow and Beijing). They are countries that make up what is called the “Global South.” Even within the BRICS, not everyone is willing to accept the ambitions of China, which seeks to position itself as the leader of this movement. Modi in particular also keeps the channel open with the United States and other G7 countries, in whose summits he already participates regularly.
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