Is China trying to get cosy with India?

China on Thursday gave several hints that it wants to arrange a one-to-one meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit next week, saying “China will make proper arrangements.”

Foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said: “During multilateral meetings, arranging bilateral meetings is practice. If time allows, China will make proper arrangements.”

Prime Minister Modi is visiting China to attend the five-country BRICS summit at the Chinese city Xiamen on September 3. And if there is a meeting between the two leaders, there will be discussions about the 71 days military stand-off border row in Doklam between two countries.

“Doklam issue is between China and India and now the issue has been resolved and this serves the common interests of the two sides and this is good for both the sides. I think that this is a basic fact and we have seen,” Hua Chunying said.

Both leaders met during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meet at Astana in June. China made it clear that it “would not be appropriate” to discuss Pakistan's counter-terrorism record during the BRICS Summit in Xiamen. “Pakistan is at the forefront of counter-terror efforts and has made sacrifices for this. The international community should recognise the contributions and sacrifices made by Pakistan,” Chunying said.