Sparring China, India Set for Talks on Sidelines of BRICS Summit

  • Two nations have been at loggerheads over disputed border
  • China backs expansion of five-nation bloc, ambassador says

Narendra Modi and Xi Jinping

Photographer: Wang Zhou/Pool/Getty Images
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India and China are set to host bilateral talks on the sidelines of a summit of the BRICS emerging market powers in Johannesburg next week as they continue to wrangle over a disputed border.

“I am confident that as two nations, two countries, we will have direct talks, direct meetings,” at the Aug. 22-24 summit, Chen Xiaodong, China’s ambassador to South Africa, told journalists in the capital, Pretoria, on Friday. “I cannot say there is tension between us, but as neighboring countries we have many common interests at the same time we have some problems.”