XIAMEN (CHINA), Sept 2 - Prime Minister Narendra Modi will arrive here tomorrow for the BRICS Summit, where he is likely to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping, days after the two countries ended their 73-day standoff in the Doklam area.
The three-day summit in this southeastern Chinese city in Fujian province will begin tomorrow even as authorities declared a high alert with Typhoon Mawar expected to hit the coastal region.
In New Delhi today, Modi said he was looking forward to productive discussions and positive outcomes at the upcoming BRICS Summit in China, noting that it has to make important contributions in upholding peace and security and address global challenges.
The summit will be the first gathering when the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa will meet after New Delhi and Beijing decided on �expeditious disengagement� of their border troops in the disputed Doklam area on August 28.
It is likely to provide Modi and Xi their first face-to-face opportunity to discuss the standoff, which had started on June 16 after the Chinese military tried to build a road India feared would allow Beijing to cut off its access to northeastern states.
India and China have not ruled out a Modi-Xi meeting during the summit. India�s External Affairs Ministry (MEA) has said it was a common practice to arrange bilateral meetings on the margins of such multilaterals, while the Chinese Foreign Ministry has said it will make arrangements �if time allows�.
The BRICS nations are key players in the world economy and in global governance. Together, the five accounted for 23 per cent of the 2016 global economy, almost double their share in 2006. They contributed more than half of world economic growth in the past 10 years, becoming the strongest engines of the global economy. � PTI
