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Context
India and China have put up a united front in the BRICS summit. Both have proposed a revival of the Panchsheel principles of peaceful cooperation.
What is the significance of the BRICS meet for India and China?
- India and China have signaled that they are trying to put the bitterness of the past few months behind them.
- The tenor of the meetings between the two leaders was particularly remarkable given that the long Doklam military stand-off was resolved just a week ago.
Consensus arrived at the meet
- Both countries expressed similar views about resisting economic protectionism of the kind that the Trump administration in the U.S. has been espousing.
- BRICS countries have together committed to an “open and inclusive” multilateral trading system.
- Another area of consonance was the North Korean nuclear tests.
- China’s nod to the inclusion of the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Jaish-e-Mohammed among the terrorist groups threatening regional stability, and its choosing not to speak of the contentious Belt and Road Initiative at the summit suggested it was heeding India’s concerns.
Way Forward
- With the BRICS meet concluded, it is important that Indian and Chinese officials re-engage in a sustained manner to address all areas of discord which led to the charged situation at Doklam.
- Both must review where the border defense standard operating procedures failed.
- The two countries must convene the delayed meeting of the Special Representatives, and add the latest claims and counterclaims over the Sikkim boundary and the India-China-Bhutan tri-junction to the agenda for discussions.
Conclusion
It is important that the gains of the BRICS summit in terms of the India-China bilateral atmospherics are optimized.
