New Delhi : Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are set to hold their second informal summit in Varanasi on October 12, after their meeting last month in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit.
A Chinese official who did not want to be identified said the decision to hold the second edition of the informal summit, following the Wuhan meet last year , is in tune with Beijing’s decision to celebrate the 70th anniversary of China’s diplomatic relations with India. Besides, it is based on the “consensus” between President Xi and Prime Minister Modi to raise China-India ties to a higher level, especially after the Doklam military stand-off in the summer of 2017.
“At the bilateral meeting in Bishkek, President Xi stressed that the two countries must celebrate the 70th anniversary of their diplomatic ties befittingly after congratulating PM Modi once again on his victory in India’s general elections,” the official said.
The details of the summit in Varanasi, PM Modi’s electoral constituency, are yet to be finalised. A boat ride by the two leaders on the Ganga is expected during the visit — echoing their half-an-hour sail on the East Lake in Wuhan last April. “India and China are ancient civilisational states, which will be the pillars of the multipolar world. This shapes the context of the meeting between the two leaders,” the official said.
External Affairs Minister, S. Jaishankar is expected to visit Beijing next month for the second meeting of the India-China high level people-to-people exchanges mechanism with State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi. While the focus of this mechanism is on people-to-people exchanges and culture, all topics of India-China ties, including detailing of the Varanasi summit, will be covered, except for trade and commerce.
Prasanta Patnaik