Chinese President Xi and Modi meet after the border agreement between the two countries Border disputes news

Narendra Modi and Xi Jinping hold talks on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held their first formal talks in five years, a sign that icy relations are beginning to thaw after a deadly military clash in 2020.

The Indian government and Chinese official media said that the two leaders met on Wednesday on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in the Russian city of Kazan.

The meeting comes days after the two countries agreed on an agreement to resolve the four-year military confrontation on their disputed border in the Himalayan region.

Xi and Modi shook hands against the backdrop of their national flags, and both stressed the importance of resolving their differences.

The Chinese leader said the two countries are at a critical stage of development and “should carefully deal with differences and disagreements and facilitate each other’s pursuit of development aspirations.”

“It is important for both sides to shoulder our international responsibilities, set an example to enhance the strength and unity of developing countries, and contribute to promoting multipolarity and democracy in international relations,” Xi said.

Indian Foreign Minister Vikram Misri said: “The two leaders stressed that stable and friendly bilateral relations between India and China, as neighbors and the two largest countries on Earth, will have a positive impact on regional and global peace and prosperity.” He told reporters after the meeting.

The 2020 clash on the largely ill-defined Ladakh border in the western Himalayas left 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese soldiers dead.

As a result, relations between Beijing and New Delhi have become strained, with both sides beefing up their military presence along their shared border.

Modi and Xi have not held formal talks since then despite attending a number of multilateral events. Their last summit talks were held in October 2019 in the southern Indian city of Mamallapuram.

The two spoke briefly on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali in November 2022. They spoke again on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Johannesburg in August last year.

Xi was absent from the G20 summit hosted by New Delhi the following month, a decision seen as another setback in their relations.

Diplomatic efforts gained momentum in recent months after the two countries’ foreign ministers met in July and agreed to speed up talks to ease border tensions.

The standoff led New Delhi to increase scrutiny of investments coming from China, block direct flights between the two countries and issue barely any visas to Chinese citizens.

The agreement reached this week concerns military patrols along the border. But Tuesday’s announcement did not clarify whether it covers the length of the border or just the points where clashes occurred in 2020.

Border tensions are a thorny issue between Beijing and New Delhi. China claims the entire state of Arunachal Pradesh in eastern India, considering it part of its Tibet region, and the two countries fought a border war in 1962.