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Xi Jinping could personally attend the BRICS summit to be held in India later this year

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In a new development, Chinese President Xi Jinping may travel to India in the second half of this year to attend the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) summit, reports The Hindu.

If Xi travels to India, it would come after the easing of the border tensions at Ladakh between the two nuclear-powered Asian nations, following a military stand-off which lasted for nearly nine months. The Ladakh stand-off is the most serious military confrontation between India and China after the 1967 Sino-Indian war.

However, as disengagement continues unabated, China on Monday (22 February) expressed its “support” for India hosting this year’s meeting and made it very clear that the border crisis will have no impact on the summit.

“We support India in hosting this year’s meeting,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said. “We will work with India and other members to strengthen communication and dialogue, and consolidate the three-pillar cooperation.”

The three-pillar cooperation refers to economic cooperation, political and security cooperation, and people-to-people and cultural exchanges.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most meetings between heads of state have taken place virtually. However, the BRICS summit will not have to be held virtually. 

Wang, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson in Beijing, expressed China’s support to India hosting the meet and said, “In recent years, BRICS has seen greater solidarity, deeper practical cooperation, and greater influence,” he said. “It is now a positive, stable and constructive force in international affairs. China attaches importance to this mechanism and we are committed to deepening strategic partnership within it to consolidate solidarity and cooperation.”

China was also in favour of working with the grouping to “expand BRICS-plus cooperation and work for greater progress under BRICS, and help the world to defeat COVID-19, resume economic growth and improve global governance,” he added.

In 2017, just five days after the 72 day-long stand-off between India and China on the Doklam plateau had ended, PM Modi travelled to China to attend a BRICS summit. It seems the Chinese want to replicate the same move to keep diplomatic options open.

Also, to strengthen diplomatic ties in India’s neighbourhood, Modi is expected to make his first overseas trip to Bangladesh in March. He could also attend the India-EU meet in Portugal in May and the G7 summit in the UK.

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