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| As Modi lands in South Africa, possibly meet with Xi to be watched most closely |
China has indicated that President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet at the BRICS summit in South Africa.
China's ambassador to South Africa, Chen Jiaodong, speaking to reporters in Pretoria, expressed confidence that there would be a direct meeting and dialogue between the leaders of the two countries.
The Indian newspaper Indian Express has written concerning sources that the two leaders will stay in the leaders' conference room and lounge for two days. In such a situation, the possibility of a meeting between the two cannot be ruled out, but sources associated with the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi say that they are not aware of any such possible meeting.
Narendra Modi will hold meetings with President Lula de Silva of Brazil and President Cyril Ramaphosa of the host country South Africa.
However, all eyes will be on the Chinese president and speculation is rife as to whether a meeting between Xi Jinping and Modi is going to take place and, if so, whether the current strain in relations between the two countries will be eased. Will talk about taking steps to reduce?
The BRICS (Brazil, Russia, China, India, and South Africa) member states' conference is going to be held in Johannesburg from August 22 to 24.
If a meeting between Xi Jinping and Narendra Modi takes place, it will be their first scheduled meeting since the border dispute between the two countries erupted in May 2020.
Xi Jinping will be in South Africa from August 21 to 24, while Modi will arrive in Johannesburg this afternoon.
The important conference of leaders of BRICS countries will be held on August 23. On August 24, leaders of BRICS member states will meet with African leaders.
20th meeting between Xi Jinping and Modi
If Xi Jinping and Modi meet face-to-face on the sidelines of the BRICS summit, it will be the 20th such meeting between the two since coming to power.
The two met 18 times between 2014 and 2019, but there was no scheduled meeting between Xi Jinping and Modi in 2020 after a clash between troops from the two countries in the Galwan Valley near the Line of Actual Control.
The two leaders met for the 19th time during a dinner in Bali, Indonesia last year, but India gave information about it seven months later.
It was said at this meeting that the two leaders discussed strengthening bilateral relations.
India and China Clash in BRICS
But the question is, if there is a face-to-face meeting between Modi and Xi Jinping, will it reduce the current tension between the two countries?
To find out the answer to this question, we spoke to Arvind Yeller, Associate Professor at the Center for East Asian Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. Yellery is currently in South Africa to attend BRICS as an academic representative.
In response to this question, he said that there is currently no possibility of a reduction in this tension because China is busy expanding BRICS and inviting new members to BRICS.
Countries like Saudi Arabia, Iran, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Argentina want to join BRICS.
According to experts, Pakistan also wants to become a member and China is trying to make it a member of BRICS. A large number of non-governmental representatives of Pakistan are coming to the BRICS summit.
Yeller says that India fears that China may take over BRICS as Russia is completely under China's influence after the Ukraine war. That is why Russia's influence in BRICS is decreasing and China has started to establish its influence in the Gulf countries as well.
He said that after the agreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia, the world saw how China's influence in the Arab countries is increasing.
"In addition, it has continuously sought to strengthen its ties with Brazil and South Africa," he says.
"If China succeeds in making its influential countries a member of BRICS, India will be left alone in this important global organization."
The Financial Times has stated in a report that China wants to make BRICS a rival of G7, the group of seven major developed economies of the world.
Arvind Yellery says that China wants to use BRICS as an anti-NATO bloc. "This is a moment of concern for India because India has good relations with the US and European countries."
Will Xi Jinping's possible meeting with Modi reduce tension on the border?
On this question, Arvind Yelleri said that 'Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will definitely want to discuss the border issue, but China will not like it.'
Despite the 19th round of Corps Commander-level talks between the two countries, there are no signs of easing in the situation. Senior officers of the Chinese army come and talk but nothing is done to reduce the tension.
"Unless there is a diplomatic level of dialogue with Xi Jinping or the Chinese foreign minister, it is futile to expect a reduction in border tensions," Yellery said.
In such a case, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar would like to raise this issue in the meeting so that a concrete response can be obtained from China on this issue.
After the year 2014, how are the relations between India and China?
Narendra Modi Prime Minister in 2014become After that in 2015, Narendra Modi visited China.
In 2017, Indian and Chinese troops stood face-to-face for two months over the border dispute at Doklam near the Siliguri corridor.
However, in the same year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held a very formal brief meeting at the 9th BRICS summit in Xiamen, China.
It was only after this that China indicated to open the Nathu La Pass for Amarnath pilgrims. It was closed by China after the Doklam conflict.
In 2018, Xi Jinping and Narendra Modi held talks at the India-China Informal Summit held in Wuhan.
A year later in 2019, the second informal summit between the Prime Minister and the President of China took place in Chennai.
The year 2020 marked the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and China.
However, in the same year, a serious situation arose between India and China. On May 1, 2020, a clash broke out between the troops of the two countries on the northern bank of the Pangong Tso Lake in eastern Ladakh.
Dozens of soldiers from both sides were injured in this. After that, on June 15, there was a clash between the soldiers of the two countries again in the Galwan Valley.
On June 16, the statement of the Indian Army regarding this clash came out in which it was said that '17 soldiers on duty at the site of the clash died due to severe injuries.' The number of soldiers increased to 20.
A report on the violent encounter between Indian and Chinese troops in Galwan, Ladakh, claimed that China had underestimated its losses.
According to news agencies PTI and ANI, an Australian newspaper 'The Klaxon' has claimed in its investigative report that four soldiers were reported dead by China.