Jammu and Kashmir off the table as Xi Jinping, Narendra Modi all set for summit
Hindustan TimesIndia expects that the second informal summit with China beginning on Friday will create an overarching road map to take forward bilateral ties, while the recent reorganisation of Jammu & Kashmir won’t be up for discussion, people familiar with the developments said on Wednesday. The Indian position was outlined even as President Xi Jinping said during a meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan in Beijing that China is closely following the situation in Kashmir and would support Pakistan on issues related to its core interest, according to state-run Xinhua news agency. After weeks of speculation against the backdrop of irritants in India-China ties, including Beijing’s criticism of the reorganisation of Jammu & Kashmir, the two sides formally announced the informal summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping would be held at the seaside resort of Mamallapuram in Tamil Nadu during October 11-12. The Pakistani premier’s two-day visit to China, just three days before the informal summit, isn’t seen as “hyphenation of any kind” by India as the meeting between Modi and Xi will go “beyond a one-issue summit” and cover a swathe of bilateral, regional and global issues, the people said.