Ingenious mechanism for troubled times

At Mahabs, both leaders had a surprisingly long dinner on Friday, where they spent quality time discussing terror and trade.

For an innovative bilateral diplomatic mechanism that was the product of strained relations, the informal summits between India and China have served them well. While the first one at China’s Wuhan last year was an out-of-the-box idea as both militaries were in a standoff at Doklam, the second at India’s Mamallapuram came amidst disquiet over Beijing siding with Islamabad on Kashmir. PM Narendra Modi kept the reading down of Article 370 and the communication clampdown there off the talks since it’s India’s internal matter. While Chinese President Xi Jinping brought up the latest visit of Pakistani PM Imran Khan to Beijing—where Xi harped on a solution under the UN charter, drawing an angry response from India—Modi sidestepped it by stoically hearing him out. Anyway, the informal summit was meant to explore areas of convergence and reduce divergence wherever possible. For example, after Wuhan, the Sino-Indian border has been calm.

At Mahabs, both leaders had a surprisingly long dinner on Friday, where they spent quality time discussing terror and trade. Both sides agreed on the menace of radicalisation in multi-cultural societies, a thinly veiled position on Pakistan incubating terror. They also agreed to set up a new mechanism to address the massive trade deficit, including a high-level talks table. And Modi sought safeguards from Chinese dumping of goods if and when the RCEP free trade pact is signed.

That Modi and Xi arrived in Chennai on Friday within 15 minutes of each other, but the former chose to greet the visiting leader at Mamallapuram hours later instead of at the airport, was interesting. Had ties been more friendly, Modi might not have missed the opportunity to extend the warmth at the airport itself. His mastery at using imagery is well known, plogging at Mamallapuram included. Curiously, the PM sought to characterise the summit as Chennai Connect, though the city was just a transit point. Had he used Mahabs in the phraseology, it would have showcased the soft power India is so proud of.