Modi, Xi will meet for fourth time this yr at G20 summit
India, China start joint training of Afghan diplomats
NEWDELHI/BEIJING: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping will meet for the fourth time this year on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Argentina next month, the Chinese envoy said on Monday as the two countries launched their first joint development programme for Afghanistan.
India and China have worked assiduously to put their relationship on an even keel after the military standoff at Doklam last year, with an informal summit between Modi and Xi at Wuhan in April providing direction to future ties, including cooperation in war-torn Afghanistan.
Addressing the inauguration of the first India-China joint training programme for a batch of 10 Afghan diplomats at the Indian Foreign Service Institute, ambassador Luo Zhaohui said bilateral relations are “now on a fast track”. The programme is also “an implementation of the consensus” reached at Wuhan, he said.
Modi and Xi have met twice since their informal summit in Wuhan – on the margins of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Qingdao in June, and the sidelines of the Brics Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, in July.
Besides the fourth meeting between Modi and Xi in November, there will be several high-level visits by Chinese officials. “At the end of this week, Chinese state councillor and minister of public security Mr Zhao Kezhi will visit India.
In December, Chinese state councillor and minister of foreign affairs Mr Wang Yi will visit India and launch the first meeting of the China-India High Level People-to-People Exchanges Mechanism,” Luo said.
NEW DELHI: The Indian Navy has spotted a Chinese attack submarine in the Indian Ocean, the first such sighting since last year’s Doklam border standoff, said an official familiar with the development. Chinese navy has deployed a submarine, a Type O39A Yuan class boat, in the ocean for the first time in over a year.
China claims that such deployments are in support of its anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden. The submarine is accompanied by a rescue vessel.
In an interview to HT in May, Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba said the People’s Liberation Army-Navy (PLAN) is here to stay in the Indian Ocean and its military movement had fuelled concerns about China’s intent in the region.
The navy keeps a sharp eye on the pattern and periodicity of extra-regional deployments in the Indian Ocean Region. A fleet of 50 combat-ready Indian warships is carrying out round-theclock surveillance of the waters. At any given time, China has six to seven warships deployed in the region.