New Delhi
At the favourite holiday spot of Mao Zedong in Wuhan in central China, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today met China’s President Xi Jinping for the first time since the Doklam border crisis in what is being described in Chinese state media as a “surprise diplomatic initiative”.
The two leaders met at Hubei Provincial Muslim where Xi was waiting to welcome the PM at the end of a long red carpet. Modi alighted from his vehicle and walked towards the waiting Chinese Premier with his arm outstretched to shake hands with Xi. The two shook for several minutes, then Modi was accorded a grand welcome with a cultural programme, and after that he two leaders sat down to chat.
“I’m very happy to meet PM Modi. Spring is a good time to meet,” said Xi.
In turn, PM Modi thanked Xi for the warm welcome, and had appreciative words about China’s infrastructure.
“‘Grateful for the warm welcome, impressed by China’s infrastructure, China’s power projects are unique”, said the PM.
Modi said he’s visited Wuhan before.
“When I was the chief minister of Gujarat, I had the opportunity to visit this province (Hubei). I had heard a lot about the Three Gorges Dam. The speed with which you constructed it and the scale inspired me. So, I came on a study tour, spent a day at the dam,” he elaborated.
Prime Minister Modi arrived here in the wee hours of Friday for a two-day visit to participate in what’s being billed as an “informal” summit with President Xi. In addition to the welcome meeting, official sources said the two leaders will hold a series of one-on-one talks after lunch at the Hubei museum, which has a large number of state-level historic and cultural relics.
Later today, Xi and Modi will have a one-on-one dinner at a state guest house on the banks of the famous East Lake. East Lake is one of the largest urban freshwater lakes in China and a Xi-Modi meeting on its banks will be reminiscent of Modi’s dinner date with Xi on the Sabarmati riverfront in Ahmedabad in 2014.
“The culture of both India and China is based along the river banks, if we talk about the Mohenjo Daro and Harappa civilizations in India, all the development happened along river banks,” said Modi today during his first meeting with Xi.
Modi and Xi will resume their one-on-one interaction tomorrow at 10am (local time) with walks by the lake side, a boat ride and finally lunch, official sources here said.
Official sources said the two leaders are expected to focus on bilateral ties mostly at the macro level. There will be no agreement signed or a joint statement issued.
“The two leaders will review the developments in our bilateral relations from a strategic and long-term perspective,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said.
China Daily said the meeting of the two countries’ premiers is “a major chance to lift China-India ties”, which it called “one of the most consequential for the 21st century.” Another Chinese publication, Global Times, said the two-day occasion “heralds (a) new chapter in Sino-Indian relations.” And in an op-ed a couple of days ago, it said the Xi-Modi meeting “will show diplomatic wisdom” of Beijing and New Delhi.
