Expert Explains: Why Xi Jinping may be keeping India guessing over his BRICS summit participation

A strongly worded edit in China Daily on August 11, a Chinese Communist Party-controlled newspaper, similarly stated that “The history of the China-India boundary itself calls for caution rather than political posturing.” And, a widely read foreign affairs blogger wrote, “By attacking China on the eve of the upcoming BRICS meet, does Modi think by acting first, he has the upper hand?” These reactions must be read in the wider context of the bilateral relationship over the last few years to understand how China might be weighing its decision, and what signals it is sending now. Context for Xi’s past…