Johannesburg

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping were seen exchanging a handshake and in brief conversation with each other on Thursday at the BRICS Summit in the South African capital city of Johannesburg.

Before issuing a joint statement of the 15th BRICS Summit by the leaders of the grouping, PM Modi and the Chinese Premier were seen walking and chatting before they took their designated seats.

Also, post the briefing, the two leaders were seen exchanging a handshake on the stage.

In November 2022, Prime Minister Modi and Xi Jinping exchanged pleasantries at the G20 dinner hosted by Indonesian President Joko Widodo in Bali, Indonesia.

Notably, this was the first the two leaders had met and greeted each other since the standoff between China's People’s Liberation Army and the Indian forces in eastern Ladakh in April 2020.

India and China have been in a stand-off situation for the last three years and relations at all levels have deteriorated due to tensions on the Line of Actual Control (LAC). The two sides have held 19 rounds of talks so far to address the boundary issues in eastern Ladakh since 2020, post the Chinese aggression there.

PM Modi arrived in South Africa for the 15th BRICS Summit on Tuesday.

The opening day of the summit in Johannesburg saw the BRICS Business Forum Leaders’ Dialogue which PM Modi addressed but Xi Jinping skipped the event, sending his commerce minister Wang Wentao to represent him.