J&K off the table as Xi, Modi all set for summit

MAMALLAPURAM If matter does come up, India will reiterate its stated position

BEIJING/NEW DELHI: India expects that the second informal summit with China beginning on Friday will create an overarching road map to take forward bilateral ties, while the recent reorganisation of J&K won’t be up for discussion, people familiar with the developments said on Wednesday.

The Indian position was outlined even as President Xi Jinping said during a meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan in Beijing that China is closely following the situation in Kashmir and would support Pakistan on issues related to its core interest, according to state-run Xinhua news agency.

After weeks of speculation against the backdrop of irritants in India-China ties, including Beijing’s criticism of the reorganisation of Jammu & Kashmir, the two sides formally announced the informal summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping would be held at the seaside resort of Mamallapuram in Tamil Nadu during October 11-12.

Preparations for the summit have been clouded by China’s concerns about a military exercise underway in Arunachal Pradesh, and remarks by the Chinese envoy to Islamabad that appeared to back Pakistan’s position on the Kashmir issue. In his speech at the UN General Assembly last month, Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi had said no unilateral action should be taken to change the status quo in J&K.

The summit is aimed at building on the rapport created when Modi and Xi held their first such meeting in Wuhan last year to put ties on an even keel after the military stand-off at Doklam in 2017. The summit, the external affairs ministry said in a statement, will provide the two leaders an opportunity to continue discussions “on overarching issues of bilateral, regional and global importance and to exchange views on deepening India-China Closer Development Partnership”.

The scrapping of J&K’s special status under Article 370 of the Constitution and the region reorganisation into two Union territories is a sovereign and internal matter and won’t be discussed at the summit, said people familiar with planning for the event. If the matter is raised by Xi, the Indian side will outline its official position, they said.

“The issue of having a discussion on this matter with anybody doesn’t arise…There is no scope for a third country to discuss or mediate there,” said a person who asked not to be named.

Referring to Chinese opposition to the creation of a Union Territory comprising Ladakh, the people said both countries have differing perceptions of the boundary but these haven’t been changed by the creation of the new entity. Instead, the people said the unstructured summit will be all about building contacts at the highest level, and exchanging views on strategic issues to create a broad pathway for taking forward bilateral ties.

There will be no signing of agreements or a joint communiqué, though Modi and Xi – meeting for the third time this year – are expected to discuss additional confidence-building measures (CBMs) for peace and tranquillity on the border, and India will also raise the need to comprehensively tackle terrorism, including the training, financing and support for terror groups. The two leaders are also expected to discuss trade and the deficit of more than $50 billion that is a concern for India, the Indo-Pacific, reforms of the UN, and selective actions that are affecting global trade arrangements. In the trade sector, there has been “encouraging progress” on the regulatory side, including access to the Chinese markets for Indian products such as rapeseed, soya, basmati rice and tobacco leaves but this is yet to translate into greater exports, the people said.