Published 13:48 IST, October 12th 2019
Modi-Xi Summit: Terrorism discussed, Kashmir not; Pakistan snubbed
As PM Modi & Chinese premier Xi Jinping concluded second informal summit at Tamil Nadu's Mamallapuram, the Foreign Secretary said that Kashmir was not discussed
As Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese premier Xi Jinping concluded the second informal summit at Tamil Nadu's Mamallapuram, the Foreign Secretary said that Kashmir issue was not discussed. Briefing the media on Saturday, about Prime Minister's one-on-one talks with Chinese president, foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale said that India's position is clear on the issue. He also added both the leaders discussed terrorism and highlighted the need to fight against it together. He also briefed about Xi's invitation to PM Modi and Defence Minister.
The Foreign Secretary said, "This (Kashmir) issue was not raised and not discussed. Our position is anyways very clear that this is an internal matter of India." However, Modi and Xi agreed that both countries should work together to deal with the challenge of terrorism, he said. Gokhale also said President Jinping invited PM Modi to China for the next India-China summit. "PM Modi has accepted the invitation. Dates will be worked out later," he added.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh invited to China
The foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale said that the Chinese premier invited defence Minister Rajnath Singh for state visit to China. "President Xi urged greater cooperation in defence. He also invited Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to visit China soon. Exact defence acquisition will be discussed later by concerned ministries," the foreign secretary said.
Modi-Xi's statement against terrorism
Briefing about Day 1 of PM Modi and Xi Jinping's meet, the foreign secretary, Vijay Gokhale said, “the discussions between India and China included the challenges that both the countries face on the account of terrorism. There was an acknowledgement that both the countries are very complex, very diverse and both leaders said that these were large countries and radicalisation was a matter of concern to both. They agreed that both countries would work towards seeing that radicalization and terrorism would not affect the fabric of our multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-religious societies. There is a general sense that both the leaders had, and they would work towards overcoming it.”
Updated 14:50 IST, October 12th 2019