Kazan, Oct 23: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held bilateral talks on Wednesday on the margins of the BRICS Summit in Russia, in their first structured meeting in the last five years.
The meeting took place two days after India and China firmed up an agreement on patrolling by their militaries along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, in a major breakthrough to end the over four-year standoff.
In November 2022, Modi and Xi exchanged pleasantries and held a brief conversation at a dinner hosted by the Indonesian President for the G20 leaders.
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In August last year too, the Indian prime minister and the Chinese president held a brief and informal conversation in Johannesburg on the sidelines of the BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) summit.
Meanwhile, Modi on Wednesday renewed his call for dialogue and diplomacy as being the only way forward to resolve conflicts, in an unambiguous message to press for the resolution of the Russia-Ukraine war through peaceful negotiations.
In his address at the 16th BRICS Summit, Modi said the grouping must give the world a message that it is not a divisive organisation but one that works in the interest of humanity.
The Prime Minister also flagged concerns over pressing challenges such as wars, economic uncertainty, climate change and terrorism and said the BRICS can play a positive role to take the world on the right path.
“I believe that as a diverse and inclusive platform, BRICS can play a positive role in all areas,” he said.
“We support dialogue and diplomacy, not war. And just as we were able to overcome a challenge like COVID together, we are certainly able to create new opportunities to ensure a secure, strong and prosperous future for future generations,” he said.
The summit was attended by top leaders of BRICS nations, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. The leaders welcomed the 13 new BRICS partner countries.
In his remarks, Modi noted that the summit is happening at a time when the world is undergoing several uncertainties and challenges, including conflicts, adverse climatic impacts, and cyber threats, placing greater expectations upon BRICS.
The Prime Minister also batted for concerted global efforts to deal with terrorism and that there must not be any “double standards” in fighting the menace.
“In order to counter terrorism and terror financing, we need the single-minded, firm support of all. There is no place for double standards on this serious matter.”
“We need to take active steps to stop the radicalisation of youth in our countries. We must work together on the long pending matter in the UN of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism,” he said.
“The same way, we need to work on global regulations for cyber security and for safe and secure AI,” he added.
The Prime Minister also pitched for reform of the UN Security Council and other global bodies.
Modi said preventing inflation and ensuring food security, energy security, health security, and water security are matters of priority for all countries in the world.
“And in this era of technology, new challenges have emerged such as cyber deep-fake, disinformation,” he said.
“At such a time, there are high expectations of BRICS. I believe that as a diverse and inclusive platform, BRICS can play a positive role in all areas,” he noted.
Modi addressed two sessions of the BRICS summit.
He congratulated President Putin for successfully hosting the summit and conveyed wishes to Brazil as it took over the presidency of the group.
At the conclusion of the summit, the leaders adopted the ‘Kazan Declaration’. (PTI)
