Mamallapuram (Chennai): The ancient town of Mamallapuram is set to witness yet another chapter in Indian diplomacy Friday as Prime Minister Narendra Modi holds a two-day informal dialogue with Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss contentious issues of trade, boundary settlement and Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
The otherwise bustling tourist resort town formerly called Mahabalipuram — located about 60 km away from Tamil Nadu capital Chennai — has been turned into a fortress with a massive security carpet to host the so-called informal summit.
The Modi-Xi talks will take place at the luxury Taj Fisherman’s Cove resort located on the coast of the Bay of Bengal. The entire area has been cordoned off for the summit, with nobody allowed to move within a large vicinity of the resort for the whole day.
While no formal announcement, agreement, or joint statement will be issued after the summit to keep its informality, both leaders will discuss all issues that impact the bilateral ties in a changing geopolitical environment.
Since the last, and first, such informal summit took place in April 2018 in the Chinese city of Wuhan, contentious issues between the two neighbours have piled up.
The trade question
As the most important item on the agenda, India will be raising the issue of growing trade deficit that is rapidly racing towards a $60-billion mark annually, sources told ThePrint.
The Modi government will ask the Chinese to import more from India, especially expanding services trade between the two wherein Indian professionals can work in China, in order to address the trade deficit concerns, said the sources.
While China has a free trade agreement with Pakistan since 2006, it has no such preferential arrangement with India.
China could announce a relaxation in work visas for Indian professionals after the summit, the sources said.
The two sides, however, could soon be tied together in a mega free-trade pact — Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). India and China are RCEP members along with 10 ASEAN nations — Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam — and their trade partners — Australia, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand.
The RCEP talks have been going on for nearly a decade since 2012. Its last round will take place on 11-12 October in Bangkok, coinciding with the Mamallapuram summit, as member countries plan to conclude it by November when a Leaders’ Summit will be organised. PM Modi is expected to attend the latter event.
An article published in Chinese national daily Global Times Thursday said, “Once the RCEP agreement is inked, India can access the most important Asia-Pacific market under the RCEP framework, and in particular the big Chinese market that has yet to sign any free trade agreement.”
However, there are concerns in India over the possibility of a surge in imports from RCEP members as well the core question of China’s membership.
Also read: Modi & Xi don’t need to sign a dozen trade pacts to make second informal summit a success
Kashmir issue
During their Mamallapuram summit, Modi and Xi will also discuss the longstanding boundary issue between India and China.
Matters have only become worse since the Wuhan summit, with India scrapping Article 370 in August to end the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcating it into two Union Territories — Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
In an interview to PTI this week, Chinese ambassador to India Sun Weidong said, “At the regional level, we should resolve disputes peacefully through dialogues and consultations and jointly uphold regional peace and stability.”
The envoy added, “The two sides should strengthen strategic communication, enhance political mutual trust, give full play to the irreplaceable guidance of the two leaders in bilateral relations, and ensure the accurate transmission and solid implementation of the consensus reached by the two leaders.”
The remarks, however, came even as China and Pakistan issued a joint statement earlier this week after Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to Beijing. In the statement, the two sides raised “concerns” over the Kashmir issue and sought a “peaceful resolution”.
“The Pakistan side briefed the Chinese side on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, including its concerns, position, and current urgent issues. The Chinese side responded that it was paying close attention to the current situation in Jammu & Kashmir and reiterated that the Kashmir issue is a dispute left from history, and should be properly and peacefully resolved based on the UN Charter, relevant UN Security Council resolutions and bilateral agreements. China opposes any unilateral actions that complicate the situation.”
It added, “The two sides underlined that a peaceful, stable, cooperative and prosperous South Asia was in common interest of all parties. Parties need to settle disputes and issues in the region through dialogue on the basis of equality and mutual respect.”
In the run-up to the Modi-Xi summit, the statement has only become the “latest irritant”.
Another invitation
Highlighting the diversions in the interests of the two countries, President Xi Jinping will go to Nepal for a mega official visit Saturday after concluding the summit with PM Narendra Modi.
This will be the first such visit by a Chinese President to Nepal in over two decades. In recent years, Kathmandu has become crucial for Beijing which is building a $3-billion trans-Himalayan project in Nepal as part of its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Nepal has also sought a grant from China for a mega railway project. A decision on this is expected during Xi’s visit.
But before that, the Chinese president is expected to extend another invitation to Modi to visit China. Since 2014, Modi has visited India’s eastern neighbour four times.
Also read: Modi and Xi are unequal leaders who won’t tango in Mamallapuram but size each other up
Just a stray thought. What would be the harm if the Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan could have an informal summit in the holy city of Amritsar. No formal agenda, no official statements or communique. As happens before the rains, a lot of negative ions have built up in the atmosphere. Man to man, get it off the chest. See if there are a few things the two countries can cooperate on. Perhaps planning the next summit of SAARC. 2. President Xi is not coming to Mahabalipuram to see the ancient temples or sample the local seafood. Two neighbours have serious unresolved issues. It helps both to find ways to manage the relationship more productively.