PM Modi to visit China on April 27-28 for summit talks with Xi Jinping

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping during an informal summit on April 27 and 28 in Wuhan city, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today.

The announcement was made at a joint statement by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, which followed bilateral talks between the two.

"My discussion with Minister Wang Yi was to prepare for the informal meeting between our leaders. It will be an important occasion for them to exchange views on bilateral and international matters with the objective of enhancing mutual communication at level of leaders," Swaraj said at the press briefing.

The informal summit meeting between Xi and Modi will see the two leaders try to work out a new paradigm for the bilateral ties bogged down with a host of disputes and differences, informed sources told PTI.




"We see socialism with Chinese characteristics entering a new era and India acts as a crucial stage in its development and revitalisation. It is against this backdrop that President Xi and Prime Minister Modi have decided to hold the informal summit," said State Councillor Wang Yi, adding that the meeting between the two leaders will be a milestone in China-India relations.

This will be Modi's fourth visit to China after he came to power in 2014. He is again due to visit China to take part in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit to be held in Qingdao city on June 9-10.

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Swaraj and Wang are meeting in the immediate backdrop of the recent meeting between National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and top official of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) Yang Jiechi in Shanghai.

Following the Doklam standoff last year both countries increased dialogue to scale down tensions and improve relations with talks at various levels.

Their meeting is part of efforts by the two countries to step up the pace of high-level interactions to improve relations, reported PTI quoting official sources.



Both sides held working mechanism meeting on border affairs and cross border rivers as well disarmament and non-proliferation dialogue in which India's entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) was discussed.

Swaraj is on a four-day visit to China to participate in the foreign ministers' meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, which begins tomorrow.

(With PTI inputs)