Xi and Modi To Address ‘Issues of Bilateral and Global Importance’ in Informal India-China Summit

FROM EIR DAILY ALERT

Xi and Modi To Address ‘Issues of Bilateral and Global Importance’ in Informal India-China Summit

April 26, 2018 (EIRNS)—The two-day informal summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi starts tomorrow in Beijing. Modi has tweeted,

“President Xi and I will exchange views on a range of issues of bilateral and global importance. We will discuss our respective visions and priorities for national development, particularly in the context of the current and future international situation. We will also review the developments in India-China relations from a strategic and long-term perspective.”

Speaking to reporters on April 23, former Indian Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar described the surprise meeting, the first such informal summit since 1954, as a “bold step.” It will have no stated goals or set agenda. Conversations, suggested Jaishankar, will be “personal and interactive.” Times of India reports that there will be no communiqué and no press conferences.

Rudroneel Ghosh reports in his Times of India blog “Talking Turkey”: According to reports, Modi and Xi will mainly engage in one-on-one discussions with just their interpreters. The setting is supposed to allow for heart-to-heart conversations on all issues, including long-term strategic ones.

Thereafter, Xi and Modi will meet again at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Qingdao over June 9-10, and there are expectations that they will hold a second summit there.