Modi, Xi Jinping will strive to normalise India-China ties. India's concerns include the Belt and Road Initiative, which runs through PoK. It's the 1st time the Chinese president is hosting a leader for an “informal” summit. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet later this week - on April 27 and 28 - in an "informal" environment in China's Wuhan
With the change in format, India and China are trying to set a precedent where leadership intervention can reset troubled ties.
India has a range of concerns, beginning with the huge trade imbalance (tilted in China's favour), the unresolved boundary question, the BRI (Belt and Road Initiative) which runs through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and violates Indias territorial integrity, New Delhi's efforts to ban the terrorist Masood Azhar at the UN, its bid for membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, and the question of sharing hydrological data and Chinese projects on the Brahmaputra river.
India has made it amply clear that there's a fundamental problem with OBOR/BRI, and that while China calls it an economic project, there's going to be no forward movement as long as PoK is part of it.
China and India worked out all aspects of the meeting between Modi and Xi before the announcement was made. The messaging between the two leaders began after the de-escalation of the 73-day-long military stand-off in Doklam.
"In Doklam, the issue was the construction of road by the Chinese," a source said. "The very limited objective of the Indian government was that the construction does not prejudice the tri-junction site. The issue is what is happening at our point of concern, which is that there has been no activity since the 28th of August."
Both sides started working on ensuring that each other's sensitivities are taken care of. One such occasion for India, according to a source, came up during celebrations which marked the 60th anniversary of the Dalai Lama's arrival in India. India showed the commitment given in 1988 by Rajiv Gandhi (who was then the prime minister), recognising "Tibet as (a) part of China" and not allowing "anti-China activities" on Indian soil.
Sources say Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale's letter (dated February 22) advising government officials to stay away from the Dalai Lama events was written essentially because they "were in no way religious in nature."
"They were political in nature. In light of that, the communication was put out."
NO JOINT STATEMENTS
No "joint statements" will be issued, and no "agreements" will be signed after the meeting between Modi and Xi, sources have told IndiaToday.in.
The two leaders will have one-on-one meetings. There will also be meetings with other officials.
Interpreters will attend the meetings, but there will be no note takers, sources say.
This is the first time that the Chinese President is hosting a leader for an informal summit in China. In the past, American presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump have hosted Xi in the US, where they had informal summit meetings.
When Xi and Modi meet, they will have an opportunity to take India-China relations to a different level, and speak in a free environment.
"The objective of this meeting was not to come out with a pre-negotiated set of agreements but to have clear communication at the leadership level," a source said. "It is going to be broad-based, overarching and not specific in its content."
Enough emphasis being put on the fact that this is a meeting to share a future "vision" between the two leaders, rather than focussing on "specifics." South Block has realised there's a need for greater "communication" at the highest "political level", where both leaders will be able to sit across the table and talk - rather than discuss "pre-negotiated" agenda items in a controlled environment.
But while there's no set agenda, Modi and Xi will strive to normalise and ensure a forward movement in India-China ties, which began on a very positive note when Modi took office.