India, China Normalise Ties at BRICS Sideline Meeting
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- Ajit Doval met with Wang Yi in New Delhi on Monday on the sidelines of a BRICS National Security Advisers' meeting hosted by India
- India's foreign ministry described the talks as 'constructive and forward-looking' and said the two leaders 'noted progress towards gradual normalisation'
- The diplomatic thaw traces back to a 2020 border clash; relations improved in 2024, ending years of post-clash friction, and the New Delhi meeting marks the latest step in that trajectory
- Wang Yi told Doval the two sides 'must respect each other's core interests' and 'properly handle sensitive issues', per the Chinese foreign ministry readout
- Wang Yi urged the resumption of bilateral dialogue mechanisms and stepped-up exchanges in trade, finance, law enforcement and media
- Wang Yi used the BRICS platform to call on the group to 'actively advocate the promotion of the multi-polarisation process'
- India is chairing BRICS in 2026 and is hosting the two-day (Monday–Tuesday) security advisers' gathering in the capital
Why it matters: India is converting its 2026 BRICS chairmanship into a venue for a direct NSA-to-foreign-minister reset with China — turning a multilateral forum into a bilateral de-escalation track just six years after the 2020 border standoff and two years into the post-2024 thaw. Wang's multipolarity pitch from the BRICS stage shows Beijing is willing to use the same platform to court India on a China-friendly world order framing, raising the stakes for New Delhi's balancing act.
