Tag: Modi visit to China

Modi’s China visit: Issues and unresolved questions

- by India Writes Network

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the coastal Chinese city of Xiamen was important for several reasons. For one, this was the first time PM Modi and President Xi Jinping were meeting face-to-face since the standoff at Doklam, which saw an unprecedented sabre-ratting from the Chinese side. Scheduled ahead of the 19th Communist Party Congress, whose dates – beginning 18 October, 2017 – were announced just after the disengagement agreement, the 9th BRICS Summit – attended by the leaders of India, China, Russia, Brazil and South Africa – was showcased by Chinese President Xi Jinping as a platform for his global leadership. A combination of these circumstances, in addition to concerns expressed by the US and other powers, probably including Russia, the highly tense Korean peninsula and some quiet diplomacy by the Indian side led to the disengagement where the CBMs between the two armies firmly held, despite the jingoistic noises.
On the eve of the Chinese Communist Party Congress, the Chinese leader’s sensitivity about his projection as a global leader, with the new US president becoming less globally engaged, remains a significant domestic political factor. The post-October emergent shape of the Chinese leadership would make considerable difference as to how stable global situation would be where India’s vital interests – and its multi-vector international relationships – remain at stake. Read more….

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Rebuilding new world, BRICS way: Modi unveils 10-point agenda

- by India Writes Network

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled his vision for making a better world brick by brick, or, through BRICS, and outlined ten Noble Commitments for fructifying the promise of another golden decade for the BRICS grouping of emerging powers.
“It is our solemn duty to make a better world – brick by brick, or, through BRICS. Yesterday, I had spoken about the BRICS driving the global transformation in the next ten years for it to be a Golden Decade,” the India leader said in his intervention at the BRICS Emerging Markets and Developing Countries Dialogue in Xiamen on September 5.

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Diplomacy resolves Doklam crisis: India China to expedite troops withdrawal

- by Manish Chand

Diplomacy has prevailed over hysteria and war-mongering as India and China have agreed to an “expeditious” mutual withdrawal of troops at the Doklam plateau on the Sikkim border, ending an over two month standoff that was threatening to escalate into a military conflict.
The resolution of the Doklam standoff has set a positive tone for India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to China to attend the 9th BRICS summit in the coastal city of Xiamen on September 3-5. Going forward, one can expect a constructive bilateral meeting between Mr Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the BRICS summit which could map the way ahead for shaping a positive narrative of India-China relations.
“…expeditious disengagement of border personnel at the face-off site at Doklam has been agreed to and is on-going,” said India’s external affairs ministry in a terse statement on August 28.
This is, however, not a time for grandstanding as both India and China will emerge as winners if they are able to seize the Dolkam crisis as a precursor for initiating a sustained and multi-layered dialogue to take a long-view of their relationship to resolve other contentious issues that have clouded their relationship in recent years. In this regard, the Modi-Xi meeting in Xiamen will show the way forward for building a largely harmonious and cooperative relationship, without glossing over difficult issues that will continue to shadow this challenging relationship between the two Asian giants.

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Amid souring China ties and South China Sea churn, PM Modi to visit Vietnam

- by Manish Chand

Amid China’s hardening posture on the South China Sea ruling by an international tribunal, senior officials of India and Vietnam have held strategic talks in New Delhi to bolster their military and economic relations, which could pave the way for a visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Hanoi early next month.
The volatile situation around the South China Sea in the wake of The Hague tribunal’s ruling rejecting Beijing’s “historic claims” over the disputed water body and the so-called nine-dash line figured prominently in discussions.
The discussions in New Delhi saw a striking convergence of perspectives between the two countries on the South China Sea issue.
The visit by PM Modi to Hanoi will take place at a time when the India-China relations are under strain following China’s stalling of India’s bid for the NSG membership and India denying extension of visas to three Chinese journalists working for state-run Xinhua news agency. Mr Modi’s visit to Hanoi, as and when it happens, will be closely watched in Beijing, which has resented growing proximity between New Delhi and Hanoi, and sees India as engaged in a containment game with the US, Japan, Australia and friendly ASEAN countries.

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Ni Hao, China: Modi visit to remap India-China ties

- by Manish Chand

Ni Hao, China. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s maiden visit to China promises to be a captivating show, high on optics as well as substance, and is expected to coalesce diplomacy, culture, business, geopolitics and outreach to the Indian diaspora. When PM Modi touches down on the Chinese soil May 14, the Chinese people can hope to see and hear an Indian leader who has a flair for using innovative methods to connect and forge a new narrative of win-win opportunities between the two Asian giants.
Ahead of his trip, PM Modi has struck all the right notes that should endear him to the Chinese leadership and ordinary Chinese people. He has become the first Indian leader and only the second world leader to sign on to Sina Weibo – the Chinese version of microblogging platform twitter. “Hello China! Looking forward to interacting with Chinese friends through Weibo,” said the prime minister in his first post on Sina Weibo.
A journey of a thousand miles, as a Chinese proverb says, begins with a small step. The two Asian giants have gone beyond inches and are now making rapid strides to clock MILES, what Prime Minister Modi has famously called the Millennium of Exceptional Synergy as they walk hand-in-hand in the unfolding journey of an Asian century. This is, after all, the journey of two and a half billion people and their soaring dreams.

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All eyes in Vietnam on Modi’s China visit, South China Sea

- by Manish Chand

HANOI: The Delhi-Hanoi maritime bonding is set to get stronger in days to come. Vietnam, the emerging dynamo of the Southeast Asia region, is closely watching the forthcoming visit of India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi to China and is expecting that the Indian leader will pitch for peace and stability in South China Sea, the site of conflicting territorial claims.
Vietnam has faced the brunt of the perceived Chinese assertiveness in South China Sea and has looked up to India, with its rising stature and formidable naval apparatus, as an anchor of stability in the maritime domain in the region.
“The Indian government has shown increased interest in protecting sea lanes of communication. We expect India will continue to support Vietnam and help it to cope up with instability in South China Sea,” Mr Le Van Nghiem, Director General, Directorate of External Information, told a group of visiting Indian journalists in the balmy Vietnamese capital.
“Many countries are reluctant to take up the issue with China. If India raises its voice (on South China Sea with Vietnam), it would be beneficial for both India and Vietnam and the region,” the Vietnamese official said. He was responding to a question by this writer on whether Vietnam expected Prime Minister Modi to take up the issue of South China Sea during his talks with the Chinese president next month.
Under Prime Minster Modi’s watch, Vietnam has emerged as a key pillar of India’s Act East policy, with a string of high-profile two-way visits seen in the last few months. Signalling the intent for closer strategic embrace, India rolled out the red for Vietnam’s prime minister in October 2014, a little over a month after President Pranab Mukherjee’s substantive visit to Vietnam.

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