Chinese President Xi Jinping, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Dialogue of Emerging Market and Developing Countries on the sideline of the BRICS Summit in Xiamen, China. (Source: Pool Photo via AP)
Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar on Tuesday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese Premier Xi Jinping reaffirmed that it is in the interest of both India and China to have good relations. There is a need for closer communication between defence and security personnel of the two countries, the two leaders felt. In the first substantive bilateral meeting after the standoff in Doklam, PM Modi and President Jinping held talks on the sidelines of the 9th BRICS Summit in Xiamen, China. The prime minister also attended the BRICS Emerging Markets and Developing Countries dialogue earlier in the day.
Chinese President Xi Jinping greets Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Mexico’s President Enrique Pena Nieto before group photo session of Emerging Market and Developing Countries meeting during the BRICS Summit, in Xiamen. (Source: Reuters)
Follow BRICS Summit 2017 Modi-Xi meet LIVE updates:
12.18 pm: When questioned on their stand on Doklam issue, Jaishankar said: “It was a forward-looking conversation and not a backward-looking one.” Earlier, a source told The Indian Express that the bilateral meet was likely to avoid mentioning “the D-word.”
12.14 pm: PM Narendra Modi’s visit to Myanmar marks seven decades of diplomatic relations between India and Myanmar. A strong and decisive leader usually gets a positive response in Myanmar. That Modi will be visiting Yangon after the successful resolution of the Doklam face-off with the common northern neighbour of the two countries will lend more weight to the PM’s standing in Myanmar. Read more here.
12.10 pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter after the bilateral meet was over. “Met President Xi Jinping. We held fruitful talks on bilateral relations between India and China. The various deliberations during the BRICS Summit were extremely productive. Looking forward to building on these in the times to come. I thank the Chinese government & people for their warm hospitality during the BRICS Summit. Leaving for Myanmar for a bilateral visit,” he wrote in a series of tweets.
12.00 pm: “There was a sense that if relationship is to go forward then peace and tranquility on border areas must be maintained. Both of us know what happened this was not backward looking conversation it was forward looking,” he told reporters.
11.55 am: “The two leaders felt that there should be closer communication between the defence and security personnel of India and China,” Jaishankar added.
11.50 am: “Counter-terrorism issues were taken up during the course of BRICS, they were not discussed in this meeting. Important point made during meeting was peace and tranquility in the border area is prerequisite for further development of relationship,” Jaishankar said.
11.40 am: Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar briefs media after the bilateral meeting between Narendra Modi and Xi Jinping. “Discussion constructive. Agreed at Astana that will not let differences become disputes, that was reaffirmed,” he said.
11.30 am: Meeting between Prime Minister Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping concludes.
(Source: @MEAIndia/Twitter)
11.25 am: During the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit in June, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar had said that the two countries needed to focus on common goals. “Where we have differences, how to work and find common ground. And wherever we have concerns, each side will look at with a degree of seriousness” he had said. Tuesday’s meeting also focused on the same agenda.
11.20 am: “A healthy and stable China-India relationship serves the interests of people in both countries,” Xi Jinping was quoted as saying by ANI.
11.15 am: Earlier, Dr Li Li, Deputy Director and Senior Fellow at the Institute of South and Southeast Asian and Oceanian Studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said: “The peaceful resolution of the Donglang standoff before the BRICS summit indicates once again that the border dispute is not all but only a part of China-India relations.”
11.10 am: Though the meeting has been allocated 30 minutes, sources told The Indian Express that it is likely to last longer. “The meeting has been allocated 30 minutes from 12.30 pm to 1 pm… we expect that it will last longer, and the two leaders will be able to come out with a plan and a series of steps to build confidence,” the source said.
11.00 am: “India and China are each other’s major neighbours, we are also two of the world’s largest and emerging countries,” Xi said in his address.
10.55 am: “China is prepared to work with India to seek guidance from the five principles of Panchsheel,” said Chinese President Xi Jinping. The Panchsheel Pact promoted “five principles of peaceful coexistence.”
10.50 am: Xi Jinping was accompanied by Chinese Chief Spokesperson Lu Kang, Foreign Minister Wang Yi and State Councilor Yang Jiechi for the bilateral meet.
10.40 am: “I congratulate you for the successful execution of BRICS Summit 2017,” PM Modi said at the bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. “In fast changing world BRICS has to be made more relevant,” he added.
10.30 am: Bilateral meeting between PM Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping begins in Xiamen.
10.15 am: PM Narendra Modi also held a bilateral meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi on sidelines of Xiamen Brics Summit.
9.55 am: PM Narendra Modi suggests 10 noble commitments to be taken up by BRICS leadership for global transformation. “Our no strings attached cooperation model driven purely by requirements of partner countries,” he added.
9.50 am: Since the Doklam standoff and other issues created a sense of mistrust between the two countries, the meeting today will focus on trying to lower the temperature and infuse some “trust in the relationship.” “We are hoping to infuse some trust… there are ideas on the table by having confidence-building measures during the meeting. We hope to see some positive movement on this aspect,” a government source told The Indian Express. Read more here.
9.40 am: An Indian government functionary told The Indian Express on Tuesday that they would “try to bury the D-word.” The D-word here stands for Doklam. Sources said that after a bitter experience, “it is time to move on.”
9.30 am: PM Modi also urged BRICS nations to “work collectively for a digital world, skilled world, healthier world, equitable world and harmonious world.”
9.15 am: A day after China signed off the Xiamen declaration designating Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad as terror groups, Modi repeated his concerns on terrorism. “We need coordinated action and cooperation in areas such as counter terrorism, cyber security and disaster management,” he said.
9.10 am: Acknowledging the climate change issue, the Prime Minister said the problem could be addressed by all countries by working together. “We need to work together to create a greener world and mitigate the menace of climate change,” he said at the Dialogue of Emerging Market and Developing Countries.
9.00 am: Reiterating his call for development, Modi said: “The bedrock of our development agenda lies in the notion of sabka saath, sabka vikas.” He also called for “an inclusive world, where the poorest of the poor are integrated into the financial mainstream.”
