Year 2020 has been marred with difficult Indo-China relationship for various reasons, one being the Chinese army has tried to intrude and trespass several border areas in Ladakh which have all been foiled by Indian defence forces. The strenuous relationships are the undoing of the Chinese efforts to size India as it still thinks India is second rung power. Amidst all these border issues, India’s PM Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to meet thrice at three different virtual summits in the month of November.

Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Heads of State summit

To be held on 10 November, Prime Minister Modi will be participating in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Heads of State summit. India became member of the SCO on 9 June, 2017.

BRICS summit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will again be meeting with Xi Jinping at BRICS Summit to be held on 17th November. To be held in Russia, this year’s theme is “BRICS Partnership for Global Stability, Shared Security and Innovative Growth.”

G20 Summit

The G20 Riyadh summit will be held on 21–22 November 2020 in Riyadh, the capital city of Saudi Arabia. This is for the first time that Saudi Arabia will be holding the Presidency of the G20. The theme of this global event is ‘Realizing Opportunities of the 21st Century for All’.

Will these meet have any impact on the Indo-China relationship?

Since these are all multilateral dialogue forums, it will be difficult for the two countries to put the bilateral issues. Additionally, since the three summits are being held virtually, there is no opportunity to talk on sidelines which usually happens when such events are held. India is not willing to give any leeway to China which the latter had expected. Moreover, the recent Indo-USA 2+2 dialogue has already given jitters to Chinese establishment. More than India, the US Defence Secretary Mike Pompeo wants India to stand against China firm and resolute. Any effort of India to mellow the strenuous relationship with China would also have an impact on Indo-USA relations.

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