A meeting that was scheduled for half an hour went on for nearly one hour as Prime minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping sat together after the BRICS meet in Xiamen to discuss the relationship after the scars of Doklam. In a briefing after the meet, Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar said that both sides agreed that peace and tranquillity on the border was a prerequisite for a healthy and friendly relationship.
The bilateral was crucial to put the ghost of the recent dispute to rest and move on. The dispute nearly cost the BRICS meet, it would have been a failure had Modi not turned up for it. Diplomats worked frantically on both sides to resolve it days before this crucial summit.
It was not a backward looking meet, said Jaishankar, emphasising that both sides knew what happened at Doklam. This meet was more about finding ways to ensure that there is no repeat of Doklam and to develop mechanisms to tackle any arising problem. He said that both sides agreed that two countries so large are bound to have differences, the efforts would be to find common ground. Also, the effort would be to continue to resolve differences as per the Astana convention (not to let differences become disputes). Jaishankar added that the two leaders agreed there must be greater effort to establish trust on both sides.
The two countries discussed ways of establishing contact between defence and border security personnel so that flashpoints like Doklam do not recur. Jaishakar said that the two countries needed to work together with bilateral mechanisms as well as through institutions like BRICS.
The foreign secretary said that the two leaders did not discuss terror outfits and their banning at the bilateral. He in fact added that it was not discussed even at the leaders' summit, but was taken up in the discussions leading to the summit. He said that all member nations felt strongly on the issue of terror and had therefore mentioned it in the joint declaration.
The foreign secretary added that both leaders were keen to take BRICS towards its golden decade. “The discussions have been forward looking,'' he said.
