Prime Minister Narendra Modi will leave for South Africa on August 22 to attend the BRICS summit.
While the schedule for PM's bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Johannesburg is being finalised, it is still not clear if the PM will hold any bilateral talks with Chinese PM Xi Jinping.
When asked about the likely encounter Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra chose not to give a direct answer to the leaders' meeting.
If the bilateral meeting takes place, it will be their first since the eastern border standoff began in May 2020.