Modi to host China’s Xi at summit with ties strained by Kashmir

- ADVERTISEMENT -

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Prime Minister Narendra Modi will welcome Chinese President Xi Jinping at an informal summit this week, the Indian foreign ministry said on Wednesday (Oct. 9, 2019), their talks coming at a time of strained ties over the disputed region of Kashmir.

The meeting in Chennai on Oct. 11-12 is aimed at enhancing the rapport the leaders built when they met in the Chinese city of Wuhan last year to help stabilise ties after a standoff in another contested section of their long border, far removed from Kashmir.

But India’s decision in August to withdraw special status for Kashmir drew sharp condemnation from Pakistan and its old ally, China, which took the matter to the U.N. Security Council.

“The forthcoming Chennai Informal Summit will provide an opportunity for the two leaders to continue their discussions on overarching issues of bilateral, regional and global importance and to exchange views on deepening India-China Closer Development Partnership,” the Indian ministry said in a statement.

India says its revocation of the special status of Muslim-majority Kashmir, which was accompanied by a crackdown on dissent by the security forces, is an internal matter aimed at developing the Himalayan territory, which is also claimed by Pakistan, more quickly.

China, which has been criticised by the United States for its treatment of members of Muslim ethnic minorities, said it believed India and Pakistan must refrain from taking unilateral action in Kashmir and has expressed concern over human rights violations there. India has dismissed those concerns.

India will make clear that any change to its Jammu and Kashmir state is an internal affair if the Chinese side were to raise the matter in the talks, a government source said.

Srikanth Kondapalli, professor of Chinese studies at New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University, said it was important for the nuclear-armed neighbors to stabilize relations as both dealt with domestic and regional issues.

“The second informal meeting as such is significant given these ominous signals at bilateral, regional and global levels,” he said.

Xi will also make a state visit to Nepal at the end of his India visit, the first by a Chinese president in 22 years, the Nepali foreign ministry said.

China has deepened ties with India’s neighbors, building ports and power stations in an arc stretching from Bangladesh to Sri Lanka and Pakistan as part of its grand Belt and Road energy and infrastructure plan.

BALANCING TIES

Ahead of Xi’s trip to India, China invited Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan for talks. China supports Pakistan in safeguarding its independent sovereignty and territorial integrity, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said on Tuesday as he met Khan.

The Himalayan region of Kashmir is divided between India, Pakistan and China. India rules the populous Kashmir Valley and the Hindu-dominated region around Jammu city, while Pakistan controls a wedge of territory in the west, and China holds a thinly populated high-altitude area in the north.

India and China also lay claim to territories thousands of miles to the east along the Himalayas, where they fought a brief border in 1962.

In recent years, India has drawn closer to both the United States, with which it has built closer military ties, and Japan.

During Xi’s visit, Modi is expected to raise economic issues, including India’s $53 billion trade deficit with China in 2018/19, and the smaller presence of Indian companies in China compared with that of other major economies.

China, for its part, is expected to urge India to take an independent decision on telecom equipment maker Huawei’s bid for India’s proposed 3G network and not be swayed by U.S. pressure that it is a security risk.

Sources told Reuters in August that China had warned of “reverse sanctions” on Indian firms engaged in business in China should India block Huawei Technologies because of U.S. pressure.