China’s president, Xi Jinping, arrived in Gujarat yesterday for a three-day state visit and bilateral talks with Indian PM Narendra Modi. What will the leaders of the two most populous nations on earth, both nuclear powers and emerging economies, discuss?
What are the main topics?
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Anything else?
In an act of passive-aggressive bureaucratic intransigence, Chinese border officials often refuse to stamp visas on Indian passports for disputed territories and instead staple them. According to Reuters, this “infuriates India” and is sure to be raised for discussion by Modi.
Other than talks, what is Xi doing?
The trip started with a private dinner for the two men on what was, coincidentally, Modi’s 64th birthday. This morning, Xi inspected a guard of honour and visited the eternal flame that burns on the spot where Mahatma Gandhi was cremated in 1948.
Why has Xi made his first trip to India?
Xi told the media this morning he had come to India in friendship to “increase cooperation” between two “emerging markets” and to ensure the nations could “pursue development together”, The Hindu newspaper reports.
What about their personal relationship?
The Indian PM made several visits to China during the period when he was the governor of Gujarat but was boycotted by western governments including the UK for his role in the 2002 riots in that province. For his part, according to The Hindu, Xi sees parallels between Modi’s programme of economic liberalisation and China in the 1990s.
Has any bad PR spoiled things?
One of the regular flare-ups along the 2,200 miles of the China-India border took place last week, The Guardian reported. Some 200 Chinese soldiers entered Indian territory and used cranes and bulldozers to build a road, which was later demolished by Indian troops who ordered the soldiers to withdraw. It was embarrassing timing.
What about Tibet?
While they are not likely to receive much press coverage in China, a series of protests by Tibetan activists has followed Xi around India, says The Hindu. “Scores” of protesters “clashed with police” outside the venue for talks today, says the paper.
-
‘Businesses that lose money and are uncompetitive won’t survive’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Film reviews: Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, Frankenstein, and Blue MoonFeature A rock star on the rise turns inward, a stressed mother begins to unravel, and more
-
Podcast reviews: ‘Fela Kuti: Fear No Man,’ ‘David Bowie: Changeling’ and ‘The Adam Friedland Show’feature Fela Kuti’s revolutionary life, David Bowie’s early years, and Adam Friedland reinvents the talk show
-
Sanae Takaichi: Japan’s Iron Lady set to be the country’s first woman prime ministerIn the Spotlight Takaichi is a member of Japan’s conservative, nationalist Liberal Democratic Party
-
Will Starmer’s India visit herald blossoming new relations?Today's Big Question Despite a few ‘awkward undertones’, the prime minister’s trip shows signs of solidifying trade relations
-
Russia is ‘helping China’ prepare for an invasion of TaiwanIn the Spotlight Russia is reportedly allowing China access to military training
-
Interpol arrests hundreds in Africa-wide sextortion crackdownIN THE SPOTLIGHT A series of stings disrupts major cybercrime operations as law enforcement estimates millions in losses from schemes designed to prey on lonely users
-
'Axis of upheaval': will China summit cement new world order?Today's Big Question Xi calls on anti-US alliance to cooperate in new China-led global system – but fault lines remain
-
China's Xi hosts Modi, Putin, Kim in challenge to USSpeed Read Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and other Asian leaders at an SCO summit
-
China is silently expanding its influence in American citiesUnder the Radar New York City and San Francisco, among others, have reportedly been targeted
-
How China uses 'dark fleets' to circumvent trade sanctionsThe Explainer The fleets are used to smuggle goods like oil and fish
