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Raminder Ranger, a member of the House of Lords of the United Kingdom, hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping as a crucial development and emphasised the urgent need for peace between India and China.
Notably, on Wednesday, PM Modi met President Xi on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Kazan and welcomed the agreement between the two countries earlier this week on patrolling arrangements along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh. The Prime Minister also said that maintaining peace and stability on the border should remain a priority of the two countries and mutual trust should remain the basis of bilateral ties. On the meeting between the two leaders, Ranger, while speaking with ANI, said, "This is a very important development and there needs to be peace between India and China." He added, "There was a time when we used to talk about 'Hindi Chini Bhai Bhai' but unfortunately, in 1962, China invaded India. This must not be repeated... Winning territory is a short-term gain but long-term loss." Meanwhile, former Indian diplomat Jayant Prasad emphasised the significance of the meeting between PM Modi and President Xi, stressing that India and China should work towards normalising their relationship. Speaking to ANI, Prasad said, "India and China should normalise their relationship. China is India's immediate neighbour and India and China are slated to be the number one and number two countries by 2050." "If the relations are not good between the two countries, then both will suffer and will not be able to achieve their development objectives," he added. Notably, during the meeting with the Chinese President, PM Modi said that the India-China relationship is important not only for the people of the two countries but also for global peace, stability and progress. "We are having a formal meeting after five years. We believe that the India-China relationship is very important not only for our people but also for global peace, stability and progress. We welcome the consensus reached on the issues that have arisen in the last four years on the border. Maintaining peace and stability on the border should remain our priority. Mutual trust, mutual respect and mutual sensitivity should remain the basis of our relations," PM Modi said. In a post on X, PM Modi said mutual respect and mutual sensitivity will guide the bilateral ties between the two countries. "Met President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Kazan BRICS Summit. India-China relations are important for the people of our countries and for regional and global peace and stability. Mutual trust, mutual respect and mutual sensitivity will guide bilateral relations," PM Modi said. The meeting in Kazan along the sidelines of the BRICS Summit was the first structured interaction between the two leaders in five years and followed the two countries reaching an agreement on Monday on resuming regular patrolling along the LAC in eastern Ladakh. PM Modi's last formal bilateral meeting with Xi Jinping was in October 2019 in Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu, months before the June 2020 clashes in Galwan that led to a military standoff. The two leaders met briefly during the Group of 20 meeting in Bali, Indonesia in 2022 and then in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2023. (ANI)
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