India, China Need BRICS Success Despite Border Tensions — SkimNews
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- Ajit Doval met China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing last week for the 25th round of Special Representatives talks — the final such meeting before Modi hosts the BRICS Summit in New Delhi on 12 September.
- Xi Jinping's attendance at the 12 September summit remains unconfirmed but is "increasingly expected," and would mark his first visit to India in seven years.
- India and China each rewrote the same sentence in their post-talks press releases — India citing "Kailash-Manasarovar Yatra" in "Tibet," China citing "Mount Gang Renpoche and Lake Mapam Yun Tso" in "Xizang" — exposing an unresolved framing fight.
- Beijing holds its own stake in a smooth summit: China assumes the BRICS presidency in 2027 and will need a cooperative India to protect the goodwill it will then need.
- Chinese military activity in Arunachal Pradesh's Taksing and Limeking circles of Upper Subansiri district has resurfaced in recent months, though the Indian Army and state government pushed back on the more dramatic claims.
- Parallel cooperation tracks — resumed business visa processing, the reopened Kailash Manasarovar Yatra, and reinstated direct flights — are unfolding alongside the diplomatic warmth but do not amount to a genuine reset.
Why it matters: The September BRICS summit gives India a stage to showcase its presidency — but Xi's attendance depends on Beijing protecting its own 2027 BRICS turn. Arunachal Pradesh incursion reports and divergent sovereignty language show the border dispute remains the binding constraint.
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