PM lands in China for BRICS meet
THAW IN TIES Modi and Xi to hold oneonone parleys on sidelines of the summit after the peaceful resolution of standoff in Doklam
Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in the raindrenched southeastern coastal city of Xiamen on Sunday for the 9th BRICS summit against the backdrop of a much-anticipated meeting with President Xi Jinping following the resolution of the two-month Doklam standoff last week.
When Modi meets Xi on Tuesday at the end of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) summit, it will be the first time the two leaders will have a one-on-one after the resolution of the military impasse that had plunged bilateral ties to a new chill.
The much-anticipated bilateral meeting will be Modi’s last engagement in China before he flies to Myanmar for a state visit. Border troops from both countries were locked in a standoff at the Doklam (Donglang in Chinese) area near the Sikkim boundary. China had repeatedly blamed India for intervening in that area and for triggering the military impasse. It accused Indian soldiers of “illegal trespass” in the region; The Doklam area is under China’s control but claimed by Bhutan.
Last Monday, India announced the “expeditious disengagement” of the border troops ending the impasse; China on its part announced the situation was resolved after Indian troops withdrew to their side of the border.
China’s assistant foreign minister, Kong Xuanyu received Modi at the airport while a small gathering of Indians from Xiamen gathered at the hotel to greet him.
The Indian PM has a tight schedule before he flies off to
THE MUCHANTICIPATED BILATERAL MEETING WILL BE MODI’S LAST ENGAGEMENT IN
CHINA BEFORE HE
FLIES TO MYANMAR
Myanmar on September 5.
On Monday, Modi will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin followed by a meeting with President Michael Temer of Brazil. Modi’s schedule includes a meeting with the President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt on Tuesday morning: Egypt is one of the five counties – Mexico, Guinea, Thailand and Tajikistan – invited to take part in a meeting on the sidelines of BRICS.
Modi will address the BRICS leaders’ dialogue with “BRICS Business Council”, which will be attended by 80 “Fortune 500” companies.
He will also meet the president of the New Development Bank, KV Kamath.
He will also take part in an event of the “Emerging Markets and Developing Countries’ Dialogue” on Tuesday morning.
The meeting between Modi and Xi, of course, will be closely followed as the two leaders are expected to lay the groundwork to work towards better ties following the standoff between border troops at Doklam (Donglang in Chinese) near the Sikkim boundary.
The impasse left the two countries grappling with tenuous ties already marred by the 3500-km boundary problem besides number of other issues.
Cross-border terrorism from Pakistan is another topic that Modi is likely to raise with Xi during the meeting, which is expected to be for about 30 minutes. More importantly, in the current context, the meeting between Modi and Xi could provide temporary relief from the chill that has set in Sino-India bilateral ties.