BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will seek to repair strained ties at a summit on Friday (Apr 27) after…
BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will seek to repair strained ties at a summit on Friday (Apr 27) after an intense border dispute marred relations last year.
Xi will host Modi for what has been described as an “informal summit” in the central Chinese city of Wuhan on Friday and Saturday.
While last year’s high-altitude standoff in the Himalayas has been resolved, the world’s most populous countries have a long history of mistrust.
New Delhi has also raised concerns about Beijing’s signature Belt and Road initiative, a global trade infrastructure programme that includes a major project through Pakistan-administered Kashmir, disputed territory that New Delhi claims is illegally occupied.
The summit “is New Delhi’s well intentioned attempt to reach out to Beijing to see if the past can be put behind and if the relationship can be reset,” Harsh Pant, international relations professor at King’s College London, told AFP.
Xi and Modi have “a good working relationship and personal friendship,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said on Tuesday.
“The two sides agreed that an informal meeting would be a good idea so that the two leaders would make full and in-depth exchanges on major issues of common concern in a suitable atmosphere,” Lu said.
