Rajya Sabha MP and senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on Tuesday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should not participate in SCO, BRICS and G20 meetings in November as Chinese president Xi Jinping will also participate in it.
While citing media reports, Swamy said that PM Modi should instead ask Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to represent India and ask China to vacate. Taking to Twitter, Subramanian Swamy wrote: "PM has, as reported in media, agreed to meet online, with Xi Jingping in scheduled Head of Governments meetings of SCO, BRICS, and G20 in November. PM should not participate in such meetings but ask our Defence Minister to represent India & tell China to vacate."
According to reports, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to come face-to-face on November 17 during the BRICS annual summit. This will be their first encounter since tensions started simmering between India and China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh.
Russia, the chair of the five-nation BRICS, announced on Monday that the annual summit of the bloc will be held on November 17 via video conference.
The BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) is known as an influential bloc that represents over 3.6 billion people, or half of the world's population. The BRICS countries have a combined GDP of USD 16.6 trillion.
India and China are locked in a bitter border standoff in eastern Ladakh since early May that has significantly strained the bilateral ties. Both sides have held a series of diplomatic and military talks to resolve the row. However, no breakthrough has been achieved to end the standoff.
