Modi-Xi meeting offers opening for closer ties, BRICS coordination: Experts

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s scheduled meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday could help advance India-China relations and strengthen coordination within BRICS, experts said, identifying border peace and balanced trade as key conditions for sustained progress.

Xi is due to arrive in New Delhi on Saturday for the BRICS summit, marking his first visit to India in nearly seven years. He is scheduled to meet Modi on the sidelines of the gathering.

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The engagement comes as the two countries seek to stabilise bilateral ties, with India holding the BRICS chairship this year and China set to take over next year.

Border peace central to progress

Atul Dalakoti, executive director of the China branch of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), said previous meetings between Modi and Xi offered grounds for optimism.

“My sense is that whenever these two leaders met, and they met many times, the outcomes have always been very good. So, they have a good chemistry, a personal chemistry,” he said.

Dalakoti identified four factors that would determine the direction of bilateral relations: peaceful borders, stable political ties, balanced trade and mutual investment.

He described a peaceful border as a “prerequisite” for further progress. A more balanced trading relationship, he said, could help bilateral commerce rise from the current USD 155 billion to potentially USD 500 billion over the next 15 to 20 years.

Bilateral ties carry weight within BRICS

Wang Youming, a researcher on developing countries at the China Institute of International Studies, described Xi’s return to India after nearly seven years as “one of the biggest highlights of the BRICS summit”.

“China and India are not only close neighbours, but also founding members and major participants in BRICS. The state of their relationship has a direct bearing on the development of the mechanism,” Wang said.

Speaking to China Daily, he said multilateral forums could provide opportunities for bilateral engagement, while better bilateral relations could make coordination within such forums easier.

India and China have expressed support for each other’s hosting of BRICS events. India assumed its fourth chairship of the grouping on January 1.

Wang said BRICS cooperation was gradually moving beyond broad policy declarations towards concrete programmes involving small and medium-sized enterprises, cities, young people and people-to-people exchanges.

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Su Xiaohui, an associate research fellow at the China Institute of International Studies, said Xi’s participation reflected the importance China attached to BRICS cooperation and the development of Global South countries.

The bilateral meeting will be closely watched for indications of progress in India-China ties and its implications for cooperation within the expanded grouping amid global uncertainty.

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