Context:

Chinese president Xi Jinping is in Mamallapuram (a town famously associated with Pallava rulers) for an informal summit with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Background:

• In April 2018, the first summit took place in Wuhan in the wake of the Doklam crisis.
• In Wuhan, Prime Minister Modi and President Xi discussed a range of subjects, including the India-China boundary question, bilateral trade and investment, terrorism, economic development and global peace, and reached a “broad consensus”.
• The Wuhan Summit achieved a “re-set” of the Sino-Indian relationship after the two-month long border standoff at the India-China-Bhutan trijunction in Doklam.
• The present meeting is a two-day informal summit, being held following China’s strong reaction to the Indian government’s decision on Article 370 and the bifurcation of Jammu & Kashmir.

Informal Summit:

• Informal Summits allow discussion on wide-ranging issues, they are not particularly purpose-specific, and are sometimes considered to play bigger roles in diplomatic dialogue than formal exchanges.
• Informal Summits act as supplementary exchanges to annual Summits and other formal exchanges such as the G20 Summit, EU-India Summit and the BRICS Summit among others, and allow for “direct, free and candid exchange of views” between countries, something that may not be possible to do through formal bilateral and multilateral meetings that are agenda driven, where specific issues are discussed, and outcomes are more concretely defined.
• Informal Summits may not take place on a fixed annual or biennial schedule; they are impromptu in the sense that they take place when a need for them is perceived by the concerned nations.
  • For instance, the intergovernmental organisation ASEAN held four Informal Summits in the years 1996, 1997, 1999, and 2000. And in November 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the ASEAN-India Informal Breakfast Summit in Singapore.

Details:

• Following the one-on-one meeting, India and China will hold delegation level talks including top officials.
• The delegation includes Wang Yi, Foreign Minister and State Councillor, Ding Xuexiang, Member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, and Yang Jiechi, Director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee.
• The two sides will also issue separate statements on the outcomes of the two-day informal summit between PM Modi and President Xi.

Developments:

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping deliberated upon areas of investment that the two countries could encourage.
• They also touched upon issues concerning trade, especially “trade deficit and unbalanced trade.”
• They agreed to work together to ensure that “radicalisation and terrorism” did not affect the fabric of the “multi cultural, multi-ethnic and multi-religious societies” of their countries.

Note: More updates to follow.

Why was Mamallapuram chosen as the venue for the meet?

• It is found that were historical and trade links between Tamil Nadu under Pallava and Chola dynasties, and the eastern coast city of Quanzhou in Fujiyan Province.
• Tamil inscriptions and fragments of architecture, were recently discovered in Quanzhou reflecting a possible temple built by Tamil traders in the 12th Century CE.
• The place was chosen for the informal summit for its historical and cultural significance.
• Mamallapuram is a World Heritage Site famed for its rock-cut sculptures.
• The Group of Monuments at Mamallapuram is a collection of 7th- and 8th-century CE religious monuments in the coastal resort town of Mamallapuram, Tamil Nadu.
• It is regarded as the city of Mamalla or Narasimhavarman-I (630-668 CE) of the Pallava dynasty.
• Mahabalipuram or Mamallapuram was the capital region during the reign of Pallava Dynasty in the 7th century AD. The Pallavas rulers used to hold the ultimate command in the southern part of India, after the decline of the Gupta Dynasty.
• Pallava rulers were popular for their inclination towards Tamilian art and culture.
• The site has 400 ancient monuments and Tamil religious temples including one of the largest open-air rock reliefs in the world: the Descent of the Ganges or Arjuna’s Penance.
• This place has a number of names, such as Mamallapuram, Mahamallapuram, Mallapuram and Mavalipuram.
• The sailors from Europe named Mahabalipuram as the Land of Seven Pagodas because of the seven pinnacles or stupas of its temples.

Other recent India-China meetings:

• Prime Minister Modi and President Xi have met repeatedly over the last few years — their meeting at the SCO Summit in Bishkek in June 2019 was, their fifteenth meeting since Modi first came to power in 2014.
• The Bishkek meeting was preceded by one in Qingdao in June 2018, where India and China signed two bilateral agreements, enabling China to release hydrological data to India, which are crucial to preventing flooding in the Northeast.
• The meeting in Qingdao carried the “Wuhan Spirit”, an indication of greater understanding between the two nations.
• The Qindao meeting was followed in November 2018 by the 21st Round of Special Representatives Talks in China’s Chengdu. The meeting was attended by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and State Councillor and Minister of Foreign Affairs of China, Wang Yi, where they emphasised the importance of strengthening the “Closer Developmental Partnership” between India and China.