Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived at China’s Wuhan city, at 12:30 a.m. (local time) on Friday, ahead of his much anticipated informal meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Various Chinese officials were present at Tianhe International Airport to receive Prime Minsiter Modi, namely Vice minister Kong Xuanyou, Ambassador Luo Zhaohui, Vice Governor of Hubei Mr Tong Daochi, Deputy Secretary General of Hubei Provincial Government Chen Huixia, Director General of Hubei FAO Qin Yu, Deputy Director General of Asia Department, MFA Hou Yanqi, and Deputy Director General of Hubei FAO Feng Xiguo.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Wuhan. #China pic.twitter.com/3jgK0zLA5N
— ANI (@ANI) April 26, 2018
The two-day informal summit, hosted by the Chinese President, in Wuhan, is seen as a move by the two countries to mend their ties following the Doklam stand-off last year.
Scheduled ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Qingdao city in June, this informal discussion will take place for the first time after 1954.
Several experts have exuded confidence that the informal summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping will strengthen bilateral relations.
Rajiv Bhatia, ex-ambassador expressed his optimism on the Prime Minister’s visit to China.
Bhatia told, “Both the countries have many differences but this will change for sure. Questions like Doklam and other border questions are complex and old questions but everything will be sorted out by sitting together.”
Pankaj Jha, an international relations expert, said that it seems Prime Minister Modi wants to take some political risk through this summit.
Jha told “In past 2-3 year nothing constructive has come out of the previous talks between the leaders. With respect to this summit in Wuhan, Prime Minister Modi wants to take some political risk either regarding the border or the trade issue.”
He further said that Prime Minister may also raise the Tibet issue to know Chinese President’s views on the same.
Anil Wadhwa, ex-ambassador to China, said that the summit is expected to bring out some positive results.
“The timing of the summit is really good. Discussion will be held on all the bilateral issues,” Wadhwa said.
When asked about the allegation that India is frightened of China with respect to the Doklam issue, he said, “It is not right to say that. Prime Minister Modi had discussed this issue with Xi Jinping at the G-20 summit. Both the sides have maturely diffused the situation.”
Earlier in 2017 a face-off situation took place in the Doklam region between Indian and Chinese troop that was later resolved after 72 days following diplomatic discussions between both the nations.
The meeting between the leaders of the two Asian giants comes after some hiccups in the bilateral relations between the two countries. China, a permanent United Nations Security Council (UNSC) member had vetoed the UNSC move to declare Pakistan- based Masood Azhar as a global terrorist and a fugitive.
New Delhi accuses Azhar of launching several attacks on the Indian soil including the deadly 2016 Pathankot air base attack which left six security personnel dead and several others injured. The upcoming summit is expected to help in resolving these issues and further pave way for a healthier bilateral relationship between the two countries.