India, China Reach Border Patrol Deal Ahead of BRICS Summit

New Delhi and Beijing have reached an agreement on patrolling the contested border in the remote Himalayan region, India’s top diplomat said on Monday.
Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri announced the new agreement during a special press conference on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s upcoming trip to the BRICS summit.
Misri said Indian and Chinese diplomatic and military representatives engaged in numerous dialogues over the past few weeks.
At the time of publication, there has been no comment from Beijing regarding Misri’s announcement.
Modi is widely expected to have a face-to-face meeting with Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the BRICS summit, although Beijing and New Delhi have not confirmed this plan.
Speaking about Modi’s schedule on Monday, Misri wouldn’t comment on whether the Indian prime minister will meet with Xi.
“There are a number of requests for bilateral meetings. And we will update you on the bilaterals as they evolve, as soon as feasible,” Misri said.
During last year’s BRICS summit in South Africa’s Johannesburg, the leaders of the two nuclear-armed neighbors held talks in which Modi highlighted his concerns about border issues along the LAC, according to India’s foreign secretary.
According to the Chinese account of the meeting, Xi told Modi that the two sides should “bear in mind the overall interests of their bilateral relations and handle properly the border issue so as to jointly safeguard peace and tranquility in the border region.”
Some analysts have pointed out that the India–China dispute could impact the CCP leader’s ambition to challenge the West and create a new world order with Putin’s help.
The upcoming BRICS summit, set to commence on Tuesday, will gather leaders from 22 countries, along with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Moscow confirmed on Monday.