Modi, Xi set for informal talks in China this week
RESETTING TIES Leaders likely to avoid NSG, Azhar, other micro stress points
BEIJING/NEWDELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit China later this week for an informal meeting with President Xi Jinping, external affairs Sushma Swaraj said in Beijing on Sunday, as efforts to step up bilateral relations gather pace after a recent chill over a border standoff between the two nations.
Modi will meet Xi in China’s Wuhan city on April 27 and 28.
“It’s a new landmark in the China and India history,” Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi said at a joint press conference with Swaraj.
Swaraj said the summit will provide an opportunity for the two sides to discuss bilateral ties, international matters and improve communication. She said the two leaders will discuss the strengthening of “closer developmental partnership”.
According to Indian and Chinese diplomats based in Beijing and New Delhi, the Wuhan summit will have no fixed agenda and the outcome will be in the form of understanding between the two leaders on macro issues.
There will be no discussion on “micro-issues” such as China opposing India’s entry to the Nuclear Supplier Group (NSG) or Masood Azhar’s designation as a terrorist, officials with knowledge of the matter said. China has repeatedly blocked India’s membership of the NSG and it has also been opposing UN sanctions against Pakistan-based Jaish-eMohammed chief Azhar.
“It will be a leaders-only sum- mit where they have wide-ranging discussions on overarching issues. No documents, Mous or agreements will be signed. Naturally, we shall hope for a positive outcome but in the form of understanding each other. We don’t want to raise any irrational expectations,” said a senior Indian official who asked not to be named. The two leaders are expected to reiterate their commitment to ensuring that the 3,488km Line of Actual Control remains peaceful. They will have a strategic conversation about global order and way forward for bilateral ties, the official added.
The announcement about Modi’s visit was made after Swaraj held key talks with Wang as the two countries continue rapprochement efforts. India and China were locked in a 73-day military stand-off in the remote, high-altitude stretch of Doklam last year. Modi’s previously unannounced Wuhan trip comes before his visit to China again in June for a summit in Qingdao of the China and Russia-led security grouping, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, which India joined last year.