The new prime minister’s calendar of global engagements has been in the works quite seamlessly, irrespective of what the election results would have been. However, a source had indicated that a continuation of informal interactions like the one with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Wuhan and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi would depend hugely on Narendra Modi’s return to the Prime Minister’s Office.
Informal engagements, as the source explained, rest a lot on “personal rapport”, which according to the source Modi and Xi had developed between Ahmedabad and Xiamen.
However, since the Prime Minister in his statement in Wuhan had said, “You invited us for the first summit and today that dream has come true and I am happy that this informal summit will develop in to a regular practice and I would be delighted to get an opportunity to host such an informative summit in 2019 on the soil of India”, the dates were already being worked out.
India was initially looking at the month of November for the summit. However, sources indicated this could be advanced to September-October. It is believed the dates and venue have been shared with the Chinese side but any official confirmation will only be made once the other side is comfortable with the proposal depending on their scheduled calendar.
The Wuhan summit was described as a unique format where Modi and Xi engaged in an informal set-up — from a lakeside walk along the East Lake in Wuhan to enjoying a traditional Chinese tea ceremony as well as a boat ride and a lunch hosted by Xi for the Prime Minister. This was apart from a 40-minute one-on-one and a curtailed delegation-level meeting to rebuild mutual trust and understanding after the Doklam stand-off.
The ‘Wuhan spirit’ as it has been referred to was often used by the opposition in the run-up to elections to corner the government over China putting a technical hold on the listing of terrorist Masood Azhar in the UNSC 1267 sanctions committee in March, post the Pulwama terror attack. However, quite drastically on May 1, China decided to lift the hold under global pressure, especially the threat of a resolution in the Security Council by the US. India had welcomed the move with the Ministry of External Affairs saying China's support to listing of Masood Azhar will contribute to better ties between the two countries.
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