New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in Wuhan for an informal visit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The visit, if anything, is historic and one-of-a-kind for multiple reasons. The meeting will have no officials, no aides, and no secretaries. It is as informal as it can get.
There will be no joint statement or agreed set of outcomes. Sources told News18 that while a gamut of things will be discussed, it will just be to remove misconceptions and misunderstandings.
This type of a setting, according to sources, ensures that the leaders have a free, no-strings-attached conversation about how to put the vision of both countries’ future in perspective in accordance with the geopolitical environment.
Such a meeting is not a first for Chinese President Xi. It was last year that he had a similar informal meet with US President Donald Trump at the latter’s Mar-a-Lago property.
What makes the visit one-of-a-kind for the Indian PM is the fact that he will be visiting China again in June for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit.
The meeting between Xi and Modi comes just days after External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj made a visit to China for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meet of foreign ministers. Modi’s informal visit is most likely expected to set the tone for future ‘official’ meetings.
Tensions between the two nations had escalated after a military standoff along the Arunachal Pradesh border. India has also been the biggest critic of Xi’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) saying that it threatens its sovereignty.
The informal meet also comes with many questions like — will both countries get some substantial clarity on various issues that have been a low point for bilateral ties? The meeting is definitely seen as the biggest step for resetting ties between the two neighbours.
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