NAY PYI TAW, MYANMAR : Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang tomorrow on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit here. Chinese President Xi Jinping had visited India in September, at a time when the armies of the two countries were in a face-off in the Ladakh region, that finally ended 10 days after his return to Beijing.
Sources said the Chinese side was keen on Mr Li to have his first face-to-face meeting with Prime Minister Modi in more cordial settings.
Incidentally, armies of the two countries would hold their 10-day joint combat drill ‘Hand in Hand’ back home in Nagpur beginning from November 16.
Mr Li was the first foreign leader to speak with Mr Modi over telephone immediately after he was sworn in. That conversation stretched to 40 minutes.
Despite the tight schedule in Myanmar, both the leaders decided to hold the structured bilateral talks, that speak volumes about the significance of the meeting, officials pointed out.
When Mr Li visited New Delhi last year, that time too, Peoples’ Liberation Army of China had triggered a face-off situation in Depsang region of Ladakh. The stand-off continued for about 20 days before the two sides decided to disengage. After the recent face-off ended in Chumar, both the nations have normalised their ties to quite satisfactory level as the two countries held joint secretary level boundary mechanism talks in New Delhi last month in a cordial atmosphere. Officials travelling with the Prime Minister in his three-nation, 10 day tour said both sides were keen to build on the outcomes of President Xi Jinping’s September visit to India. (AGENCIES)
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