PM Modi, Xi Jinping to come face to face twice in November

New Delhi, Oct 19: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will come face to face with Chinese President, Xi Jinping and Pakistan Prime Minister, Imran Khan at the SCO summit which Russia will host virtually on November 10.

PM Modi and Jinping will also come face to face at the BRICS virtual summit on November 17. The SCO is a more important forum for India to underscore concerns about terrorism and also the need to respect regional integrity and sovereignty. The summit on November 10 will be the first time that PM Modi and Xi would come face to face since the border tensions between the two countries began in May.

Meanwhile, sources tell OneIndia that the issue is being dealt with an immense amount of patience. We do not expect a quick fix, but want a long lasting solution to the issue. It is important that we keep talking and hence the dialogue channels have been kept open the source also said.

The official also said that the talks will be held on October 26. Besides reviewing the security challenges facing the nation, the Army commanders will attempt to finalise various reform measures recommended by separate internal committees in utilisation of resources while at the same time focusing on enhancing the operational capability of the 1.3-million-strong force, they said.

The conference will be chaired by Chief of Army Staff Gen M M Naravane and all top commanders will attend it, the sources said.

Some of the proposals to be on the table at the conference include discontinuing or at least bringing down the scale of the Army Day and Territorial Army Day parades, cutting down on various ceremonial practices, and reducing the number of officers' mess within individual peace stations, the sources said.

On the other hand, Foreign Minister S Jaishankar has said that it is not India's position that we should solve the boundary question. We understand that it is a very complicated and difficult issue. There have been many negotiations at different levels. That is a very high bar for a relationship. I am talking about a much more basic bar which is that there must be peace and tranquility along the LAC in the border areas and that has been the case since the late 1980s, Jaishankar told Indian ambassador to China, Gautam Bambwale at an online event.

"Now, if peace and tranquillity is deeply disturbed, then obviously there will be an impact on the relationship and that is what we are seeing," Jaishankar also said.