Positive development in India-China ties: Russian envoy Alipov

Russian envoy to India Denis Alipov on Monday termed the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Kazan as a positive development in bilateral ties between India and China.

Asserting that the recently concluded BRICS Summit in the Russian city of Kazan was a “total success”, he said the grouping is “not an exclusive but an inclusive platform”.

“BRICS is not anti-West but non-West,” Alipov said during an interaction with reporters here.

Asked about the recent meeting between Modi and Xi, and if Russia had any role in it, Alipov said, “We have not played any role in it, but we are happy that it took place in Kazan... We wholeheartedly welcome the meeting.”  On October 23, Prime Minister Modi and the Chinese president had endorsed the agreement on patrolling and disengagement along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh during their bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit.

They had also issued direction to revive various bilateral dialogue mechanisms, signalling attempts to normalise ties that were hit by a deadly military clash in 2020.

In the nearly 50-minute meeting held on the sidelines of the summit in Kazan, Modi underscored the importance of properly handling differences and disputes and not allowing them to disturb peace and tranquility in the border areas. He reiterated that mutual trust, mutual respect and mutual sensitivity should remain the bases of the relations.

In their first structured talks in nearly five years, Modi and Xi also instructed the revival of the stalled Special Representatives’ dialogue mechanism on the boundary question at an early date, holding that it can play a critical role in the maintenance of peace and tranquillity along the frontier.

Following the talks, Modi had said in a post on X, “India-China relations are important for the people of our countries, and for regional and global peace and stability. Mutual trust, mutual respect and mutual sensitivity will guide bilateral relations.”

To a question on the Sino-India talks on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Kazan and how Moscow viewed it, the envoy said it took place after nearly five years and it is a “positive development in India-China bilateral ties”.

In his opening remarks, Alipov cited a report published in a leading Indian daily on an an interview of Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

In the interview to the daily, President Zelenskyy has said the BRICS Summit was a big “failure”, he said.

The envoy countered him and said the summit in Kazan was a “total success”.

India supports dialogue and diplomacy, and not war, Modi had said at the BRICS Summit. He also shared some of the key outcomes of the summit.

In July, Modi had visited Russia, marking his first visit since the Russian invasion of Ukraine over two years ago.

In August, he undertook a visit to Ukraine at the invitation of Zelenskyy.