Morning Digest: PM Modi to hold bilateral meeting with Xi Jinping today; JMM, RJD agree to fight under INDIA bloc banner, and more

The Hindu Morning Digest gives a select list of stories to start the day. Read the top news today on October 23, 2024

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping will hold bilateral talks on Wednesday (October 23, 2024) on the margins of the BRICS summit in Russia, in their first structured meeting since the eastern Ladakh border row erupted in May 2020. Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri made the announcement, a day after India and Chinafirmed up an agreement on patrolling by their militaries along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, in a major breakthrough to end the over four-year standoff.

Congress leader and United Democratic Front candidate for the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, along with her mother and Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi, arrived at Sulthan Bathery in Wayanad around 9 p.m. on Tuesday. Ms. Vadra will submit her nomination papers on Wednesday for the seat vacated by her brother Rahul Gandhi, who had also won from the Rae Bareilly Lok Sabha constituency in Uttar Pradesh.

After the intervention of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) Chief Lalu Prasad, the party’s seat sharing talks with the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) ahead of Jharkhand Assembly election reached a conclusion on Tuesday following which RJD released its list of candidates for six seats. Both parties have agreed to contest the election in alliance with the INDIA bloc.

India and Pakistan agreed to renew their agreement to operate the Kartarpur Corridor to facilitate pilgrims from India to visit the Kartarpur Sahib Gurudwara for another five years on Tuesday. The renewal of the project, originally proposed during the tenure of former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan as a Confidence Building Measure, has weathered the sharp downturn in relations between India and Pakistan.

The Israeli military said Tuesday that one of its airstrikes outside Beirut earlier this month killed a top Hezbollah official who had been widely expected to be the group’s next leader.There was no immediate confirmation from the militant group about the fate of Hashem Safieddine.

India supports restoration of peace between Ukraine and Russia and is committed to providing “all possible assistance” to end the crisis, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday during a bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

IMF maintains India’s growth projection at 7% for FY25