Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping are currently meeting in Xiamen – their first bilateral meeting since the standoff in Doklam, Sikkim. The meeting on the sidelines of the Brics Summit began around 10.30 am Indian Standard Time, after the Brics summit. Modi was scheduled to meet Xi before he leaves for Myanmar.
Xi told Modi that China is prepared to work with India to “seek guidance from the five principles of the Panchsheel [Treaty]”, ANI reported. Since India and China are each other’s major neighbours, and are two emerging countries, “a healthy and stable China-India relationship serves the interests of people in both countries,” Xi said.
The Chinese delegation comprises Xi, Chief Spokesperson Lu Kang, Foreign Minister Wang Yi and State Councilor Yang Jiechi.
India had announced the disengagement of its troops from Doklam on August 29. Troops from both the countries had been stationed at the sector in Sikkim during the standoff, which had begun in June. Soon after, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi had said, “We hope the Indian side will learn lessons from this incident and prevent similar things from happening again.”
On Monday, the five Brics countries had issued a joint statement against militant organisations Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba, grouping them with other global groups like the Islamic State. It was the first time the Pakistan-based groups had been denounced by the Brics countries.
“We...express concern on the security situation in the region and violence caused by the Taliban, ISIL/DAISH, Al-Qaida and its affiliates including Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, the Haqqani Network, Laskar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, TTP and Hizb-ut-Tahrir,” their statement said.
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