Prime Minister Narendra Modi (PTI Photo)
India Tuesday announced that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to China’s Xiamen to attend the BRICS summit from September 3 to 5. “At the invitation of the President of People’s Republic of China, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Xiamen in China’s Fujian province during September 3-5, 2017 to attend the 9th BRICS Summit,” an External Affairs Ministry statement said.
The announcement coincided with Bhutan’s confirmation that both India and China had withdrawn their troops from Doklam. It underlined the importance of maintaining “status quo”, something Delhi had accused Beijing of changing “unilaterally”.
China remained non-committal on its construction plans in Doklam. “We will make an overall assessment of the weather conditions and all related factors, and according to the actual circumstances, complete construction plans for the Dong Lang (Doklam) area,” Xinhua quoted Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying as telling a daily news briefing.
Separately, Modi will travel to Myanmar on September 5 for a two-day trip — his first visit to the country. “During the visit, Prime Minister will hold discussions with State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi on matters of mutual interest and also call on President U Htin Kyaw. Apart from his engagements in the capital city of Nay Pyi Taw, he will visit Yangon and Bagan,” the ministry said.
