Xi Jinping – Modi Heart to Heart Summit in Wuhan City of China

The summit of Modi - Xi was held in Central China’s Wuhan City on April 27 and 28, 2018 in a bid to strengthen sagging ties due to Dokalam standoff. The Chinese Press had hailed the meeting as a ‘historic informal summit’ and India can be proud as Xi had taken personal care and interest in the arrangements for the meeting and had accompanied Modi throughout his two days stay.

Hence, 73-day Standoff in Dokalam which was due to Indian troops stopping the construction of a road by the Chinese Army in the disputed area, had become past history, as the top leaders of China and India had met without any specific agenda but with specific determination to identify new grounds as the guiding principles for bilateral ties and drawing a blueprint for the comprehensive cooperation between the two sides.

It is said that it opened up new ground for India-China relations.

The talks focused on diverse areas of India-China cooperation, giving impetus to their economic ties as well as people-to-people relations apart from other areas of agriculture, technology, energy and tourism. It is great that the both leaders said to have reviewed the developments in India-China relations from a strategic and long-term perspective.

Prior to Modi’s visits, Sushma Swaraj and Nirmala Sitharaman  had met their Chinese counterparts to make Modi’s visits fruitful. 

Immediate benefits that accrued during and after the meetings are noted below:

“Beijing had agreed to resume data sharing on the flow of water in the Brahmaputra and Sutlej rivers, which originate in China and flow into India. And it had also been announced that the Kailash Mansarovar yatra through the Nathu La route will be resumed this year. As you know that the pilgrimage had been cancelled last year following the tense standoff between the militaries of the two countries at Doklam near the Nathu La route which lasted for more than 70 days, chilling bilateral ties and leading to the suspension of dialogue mechanisms between the two neighbours.

China, after the two leaders meeting, on May 1, 2018, had removed import duties on as many as 28 medicines, including all cancer drugs, a move which would help India to export these pharmaceuticals to China. This will help reduce trade imbalance between China and India in the future. The concessions assumes significance as India has time and again asked for greater market access for its goods and services, including IT, Pharmaceuticals and agriculture, in the Chinese market to reduce the widening trade deficit. Though $51 billion trade deficit in 2016-17 with China came down to $36.73 billion in April-October 2017-18, with this relaxation India will further reduce the trade deficit.”

By the year 2050, India and China are moving to the slot of No. 3 and No.1 respectively as economic power and the combined economies of these two countries will dwarf US economy which is in No.2. Modi’s recent visit to China is aimed to make this to happen.

 

The venue Wuhan, located at the confluence of the Han and Yangtze rivers, lies at a distance of 1162 km from Beijing, is termed as the happiest city in the country by China’s Economic Life Survey and there are more than 120 higher education institutions and more than a million students, making it an important university town. The city has also attracted Indian students and there are close to 500 of them studying medicine in its medical colleges. The city is home to the famous villa of Chairman Mao located at the scenic bank of the East Lake of Wuchang, one of the districts of Wuhan.

On Modi’s visit, Modi along with Xi Jinping had enjoyed a boat ride in the East Lake.

The two leaders are confident that their friendly meeting at Wuhan – Happiest City of China will bring happiness and peace to the two countries and will ensure complete trust and understanding over all issues apart from unified actions to meet the terrorisms globally, totally and jointly.

Pictures will speak volumes and hence the following photos will show the friendliness and understandings of the two powerful leaders.