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After their first informal meeting at the Sabarmati Ashram of Mahatma Gandhi in Gujarat in 2014, it’s Xi’s turn to host Modi for an informal summit.
Modi will have meetings with Xi on Friday and the day after, which officials say could become a game-changer if they manage to reach consensus on finding the solution to the problems, including the way forward to resolve the boundary dispute and other vexed issues that bedevilled the ties.
Officials on both sides played down speculation of any agreement to be reached between the two leaders saying that no such thing was on the table. Modi and Xi will try to work out a general framework for relations to move ahead without much of great expectations about the outcome, Indian officials said.
Conceived on the lines of the 1988 ice-breaking visit to China undertaken by the then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, and his far-reaching talks with China's paramount leader Deng Xiaoping setting a new tone for the relations post-1962 war, Xi-Modi dialogue at Wuhan is aimed at a working out a new paradigm for the bilateral relations for the next 15 years, they said.
The talks will focus on adhering to the principle that both countries should be sensitive to each other's concerns and aspirations, the sources said.
It is a leadership driven summit providing a leadership driven direction and a way forward to more stable bilateral ties, they added.
(With inputs from PTI and ANI.)
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Thursday, 26 April, left for Wuhan, in central China, where he is scheduled to take part in an informal two-day summit with the Chinese President Xi Jinping starting Friday.
The two leaders will have strategic communication on the major changes in the international landscape unseen in more than 100 years, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou said. He was apparently referring to the changes following US President Donald Trump's aggressive 'America First' policy, which are threatening to undermine the process of globalisation, of which India and China are the biggest beneficiaries.
Kong further said Modi will stay in the most comfortable place in Wuhan, without revealing the location, citing security reasons.
The upcoming summit will be an informal one, different from formal visits. The summit will be relaxed and friendly with a rich format, the minister said.
The two-day informal summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping could be a "new landmark" in bilateral ties and can help reduce differences, a write-up in the state-run Chinese media said on 26 April.
"The meeting will be a new landmark in China-India relations, infusing fresh vigour into bilateral ties and ushering in a new phase of cooperation," it said.
Amidst US President Donald Trump's protectionist trade moves, the two of the biggest emerging market economies, China and India encounter hurdles not only on the path to their respective development, but also for the rejuvenation of Asia, a common goal of the two sides, it said.
Referring to last year's tensions on a host of issues including the Dokalam crisis, it said the tone of cooperation in bilateral relations has been maintained despite the tensions.
The two leaders will focus their talks on the current world order. The synchronised and rapid development of the two countries is beneficial to the stability of the world and conducive to striking the right balance among international powers, it said.
Xi and Modi are expected to exchange their governance experiences, which could help the two sides learn from each other so they can better realise the daunting tasks of leading the world's two most populous countries on their chosen development paths.
They are also likely to discuss how to address major international challenges. The common interests of China and India far outweigh their differences, it said.
For instance, they share a common interest in improving the international trade and financial system, as well as the global energy market.
The two sides also share extensive common interests in strengthening cooperation under the frameworks of the BRICS, the SCO, and the G20, it said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Wuhan, China on Thursday, 26 April, reported ANI. The PM was received by Kong Xuanyou, Assistant Minister of the Ministry of foreign affairs of China, Luo Zhaohui (Ambassador), Tong Daochi (Vice-Governor of Hubei) and many others.
PM Narendra Modi met Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Hubei Provincial Museum in Wuhan on Friday. The two leaders held an “informal” one-on-one meeting with each other.
They watched a cultural performance before the meeting.
PM Narendra Modi, on 27 April, said that he had visited the province when he was the chief minister of Gujarat.
Taking a dig at PM Narendra Modi, Congress President Rahul Gandhi tweeted saying that the prime minister “looked tense” during his “no agenda” meet with Xi Jinping.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held delegation-level talks in Hubei.
Addressing the delegations-level meeting, PM Modi thanked the Chinese president for welcoming him to Wuhan.
According to News18, the Prime Minister asserted that China and India had set the pace for world economy for the last 1,600 years. He said that the two countries together had the responsibility to work for 40 percent of the world population, terming it a big ‘opportunity’.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he hoped to see such informal summits become a tradition between India and China. He also invited the Chinese delegation to India for a similar summit in 2019.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh hailed the Prime Minister’s visit to Wuhan, stating that India aimed to be friendly with every neighbouring country, ANI reports.
The Congress, on 27 April, asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi whether he will remember his innate duty of protecting India's strategic interests by raising the Doklam issue with China that impacts national security, PTI reported.
Congress communications in-charge Randeep Surjewala took a dig at the Prime Minister, saying Modi may not be able to show "red eyes" as he "loftily promised", but will he show the courage and conviction to do plain-speaking on Doklam and defend India's interests.
PTI quoted Surjewala as saying that India is facing an increasingly aggressive China which is trying intrude into the 'chicken neck' – Siliguri corridor – by building a new road through south of Doklam, and wondered why is the Modi government "clueless and incapable" to send a strong message to China.
"Modi ji may not be able to show 'red eyes' as he loftily promised, but will he show the courage and conviction to do plain-speaking on Doklam and defend India's interests?," the Congress leader said.
He said does the latest satellite imagery from Google maps on 25 April 2018 not show creation of additional structures by China a few meters away from Indian Army posts? "Has the prime minister and the defence ministry taken note of it? Will PM Modi take up the issue in the 'summit' with Chinese President today in Wuhan, China?," he asked.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will take an hour-long boat ride with his host Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday, 28 April, the final day of an ice-breaking trip both are hoping will lead to better ties after a year of strains.
Billed by both sides as an informal meeting rather than a summit, with none of the pomp and ceremony of a state visit, like 21-gun salutes, the two men held talks on Friday that lasted far longer than expected, reported Reuters.
Modi will take a walk around a guesthouse with Xi on Saturday, then an hour-long boat trip on a lake followed by lunch, before the meeting ends, according to the Indian Foreign Ministry.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping began their last round of one-on-one talks with a walk around the famous East Lake in Wuhan and an hour-long boat ride on Saturday, 28 April.
The Foreign Secretary Vijay Keshav Gokhale is expected to address the media on the government’s takeaways after the summit later on Saturday.
PM Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi took a walk together along East Lake, and took an hour-long boat ride in Wuhan on the morning of Saturday, 28 April.
The two leaders also had tea together after their long walk.
Addressing a press conference on the second-day of informal meet between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said that the focus of the meeting was on improving the long-term strategic partnership between the two countries.
He said both leaders underlined the importance of maintaining peace along the Indo-China border, adding that the leaders agreed to improve communication between the two foreign ministries and militaries. The Foreign Minister added that the leaders did not go into minute details, but agreed that it was important that both countries showed “maturity” in resolving issues.
Gokhale added that no formal agreement was signed between the two countries during the visit.
Gokhale indicated that such an informal meeting between Modi and Xi could happen again in the future, adding that there was a “level of comfort” between them which could smoothen the path to improving ties.
China’s Ambassador to India Luo Zhaohui tweeted that PM Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping spent nine hours together and discussed a wide range of topics. The prime minister left for India after the conclusion of two-day informal summit.
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou said on Saturday the just-concluded informal summit between the leaders of China and India was a milestone in relations.
China and India have concrete differences but the summit was not aimed at addressing these specific issues, Kong told reporters in the central Chinese city of Wuhan where the meeting took place.
Chinese President Xi Jinping said the problems between China and India are of a limited, temporary nature, Kong said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi returned to India after the two-day informal summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in China's Wuhan. PM Modi was received by Union Minister Sushma Swaraj on his arrival.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping have decided to issue strategic guidance to their respective militaries to strengthen communications and to build trust and understanding, said foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale on Saturday, 28 April.
Briefing reporters at the end of an unprecedented two-day informal summit between the two leaders in China, he said that the two leaders underscored the importance of maintaining peace and tranquillity in all areas of the India-China border region.
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