Ahead of PM Modi, Xi Jinping's One-on-One Meet, China Says Risk of Protectionism, Unilateralism to be Discussed
The "informal summit" between Modi and Jinping on April 27-28 will be held in the town of Wuhan located in the central Hubei province.
Beijing, April 23: China on Monday said the upcoming 'one-on-one' meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping will feature talks on the risk posed by 'protectionism' and 'rampant unilateralism', apart from the discussion on other mutual subjects.
Chinese Foreign Ministry, in its regular briefing today, said both New Delhi and Beijing face risk from certain "global trends" which are lately on the rise. The Ministry said a "stable development", along with "inclusive globalisation", is key to the prospects of India and China.
"The two sides believe that the strategic and global significance of our relations have become more prominent and our common interests far outweigh our differences," said Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang.
Trade protectionism is one where area of geopolitical interest where Modi and Jinping have struck a common chord on earlier occasions as well.
While addressing the World Economic Forum summit of 2017, Jinping had underlined the need to resist the trade protectionist tendencies emerging in some parts of the western world.
"Pursuing protectionism is like locking oneself in a dark room," Jinping had said, adding that those countries succumbing to populist pressures will cause damage to the domestic as well as the global economy.
The point was reiterated by Modi during his keynote address at the WEF summit of 2018.
"Many countries are becoming inward focused and globalisation is shrinking and such tendencies can’t be considered lesser risk than terrorism or climate change," the Indian PM had said.
The "informal summit" between Modi and Jinping on April 27-28 will be held in the town of Wuhan located in the central Hubei province. The meeting comes in the aftermath of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj visiting China and holding successful round of talks with her Foreign Ministry counterparts.
The one-on-one discussion between Modi and Jinping is considered to be the final phasing out of the patch which appeared in the bilateral ties last year when the armies of both the nations were locked in a stand-off at the trijunction region of Doklam.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 23, 2018 08:03 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).