With nearly a month to go for the results of the general election, India and China have quietly begun preparing for the second informal summit between their top leadership that is expected to build on the gains of the first such meet at Wuhan and bridge differences on key issues.
With nearly a month to go for the results of the general election, India and China have quietly begun preparing for the second informal summit between their top leadership that is expected to build on the gains of the first such meet at Wuhan and bridge differences on key issues.
New Delhi initially suggested dates in November for the meeting, set to be held in India, but later agreed on dates in October after Beijing said the timing of the summit should be advanced so that the momentum created by the Wuhan meet isn’t dissipated, people familiar with developments on both sides said.
A full plate of issues – including contentious matters such as the disputed border, especially in Arunachal Pradesh, India’s opposition to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and China’s position on Pakistan-based terrorists – will be on the agenda for the summit, which an Indian official said would be “qualitatively different” from the Wuhan meet between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping in April 2018.
“The Wuhan summit was held against the backdrop of the military standoff at Doklam and was aimed at a reset in ties. There was strategic guidance from the leaders that things were better at the top and this message was sent down and resulted in better understanding in all arms of the government,” said the Indian official, who didn’t want to be identified.
“It restored some of the trust that had been lost and there has been better management of each other’s sensitivities. In the second summit, we expect to move beyond the ghost of Doklam and truly build on the Wuhan spirit,” the official added, noting how both sides are making a conscious effort not to play up differences, including issues such as India’s decision to skip China’s second Belt and Road Forum and Beijing’s hold on efforts to designate Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar at the UN’s 1267 Sanctions Committee.
People familiar with the thinking in official quarters in Beijing said China is looking to take up issues under four broad areas at the summit.
The first area is contentious matters such as the border dispute, BRI, the Dalai Lama, the second is trade and investment as Beijing continues to be concerned about the trade deficit (which stood at $51.72 billion in 2017) and issues such as market access, the third is enhancing people-to-people contacts and cultural exchanges, and the fourth is India’s position on matters that are of concern to China, such as the Indo-Pacific, the Quad and South China Sea, the people said.
The people added while there is better rapport between the top leadership, there is a feeling in Beijing this hasn’t percolated down to all levels of the government and the people. It was because of this that Beijing had suggested the creation of the high level mechanism on cultural and people-to-people exchanges, which held its first meeting in New Delhi last December.
The Indian official noted that China’s lifting of the block on Masood Azhar’s listing as a global terrorist could help improve people-to-people contacts.
Referring to China’s concerns about the Indo-Pacific, the Indian official said Prime Minister Modi’s speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore last June had made it clear that New Delhi looked at the concept as a “free, open, inclusive region” – in other words, a concept that included China. On the Quad, the official noted things had remained low key and shouldn’t lead to concerns about “countries ganging up” against a particular nation.
People familiar with the thinking in New Delhi also noted that circumstances on the world stage – such as the US ending exemptions to sanctions on Iranian oil imports and Washington’s position on trade issues – had placed India and China on the same side.
A venue for the second informal summit is yet to be finalised, though people familiar with developments said the choice could be one that reflects India’s long civilisational history and also provides locations where the two leaders should spend time in private to discuss issues.
Despite the current understanding on dates in October, some quarters in Beijing are hoping the timing will be further advanced.
Constantino Xavier, a fellow in foreign policy studies in Brookings India, said if Modi returns as premier, the second summit will mark “a renewed attempt at his transactional approach to China”.
He also pointed to developments in the India-China-US triangle, such as roadblocks in India-US ties over trade issues and sanctions on Iranian and Venezuelan oil imports and Russian defence equipment. “On the other hand, there may possibly be a China-US deal to normalize ties. If that happens, it will put the onus on India to improve relations with China.”
New Delhi initially suggested dates in November for the meeting, set to be held in India, but later agreed on dates in October after Beijing said the timing of the summit should be advanced so that the momentum created by the Wuhan meet isn’t dissipated, people familiar with developments on both sides said.
A full plate of issues – including contentious matters such as the disputed border, especially in Arunachal Pradesh, India’s opposition to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and China’s position on Pakistan-based terrorists – will be on the agenda for the summit, which an Indian official said would be “qualitatively different” from the Wuhan meet between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping in April 2018.
“The Wuhan summit was held against the backdrop of the military standoff at Doklam and was aimed at a reset in ties. There was strategic guidance from the leaders that things were better at the top and this message was sent down and resulted in better understanding in all arms of the government,” said the Indian official, who didn’t want to be identified.
“It restored some of the trust that had been lost and there has been better management of each other’s sensitivities. In the second summit, we expect to move beyond the ghost of Doklam and truly build on the Wuhan spirit,” the official added, noting how both sides are making a conscious effort not to play up differences, including issues such as India’s decision to skip China’s second Belt and Road Forum and Beijing’s hold on efforts to designate Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar at the UN’s 1267 Sanctions Committee.
People familiar with the thinking in official quarters in Beijing said China is looking to take up issues under four broad areas at the summit.
The first area is contentious matters such as the border dispute, BRI, the Dalai Lama, the second is trade and investment as Beijing continues to be concerned about the trade deficit (which stood at $51.72 billion in 2017) and issues such as market access, the third is enhancing people-to-people contacts and cultural exchanges, and the fourth is India’s position on matters that are of concern to China, such as the Indo-Pacific, the Quad and South China Sea, the people said.
The people added while there is better rapport between the top leadership, there is a feeling in Beijing this hasn’t percolated down to all levels of the government and the people. It was because of this that Beijing had suggested the creation of the high level mechanism on cultural and people-to-people exchanges, which held its first meeting in New Delhi last December.
The Indian official noted that China’s lifting of the block on Masood Azhar’s listing as a global terrorist could help improve people-to-people contacts.
Referring to China’s concerns about the Indo-Pacific, the Indian official said Prime Minister Modi’s speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore last June had made it clear that New Delhi looked at the concept as a “free, open, inclusive region” – in other words, a concept that included China. On the Quad, the official noted things had remained low key and shouldn’t lead to concerns about “countries ganging up” against a particular nation.
People familiar with the thinking in New Delhi also noted that circumstances on the world stage – such as the US ending exemptions to sanctions on Iranian oil imports and Washington’s position on trade issues – had placed India and China on the same side.
A venue for the second informal summit is yet to be finalised, though people familiar with developments said the choice could be one that reflects India’s long civilisational history and also provides locations where the two leaders should spend time in private to discuss issues.
Despite the current understanding on dates in October, some quarters in Beijing are hoping the timing will be further advanced.
Constantino Xavier, a fellow in foreign policy studies in Brookings India, said if Modi returns as premier, the second summit will mark “a renewed attempt at his transactional approach to China”.
He also pointed to developments in the India-China-US triangle, such as roadblocks in India-US ties over trade issues and sanctions on Iranian and Venezuelan oil imports and Russian defence equipment. “On the other hand, there may possibly be a China-US deal to normalize ties. If that happens, it will put the onus on India to improve relations with China.”