Modi-Xi discuss terror, radicalisation, but keep Kashmir off the table

New Delhi, Oct 12: The discussions between Prime Minister, Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping focused a lot on terrorism and radicalisation. However sources familiar with the developments tell OneIndia that Kashmir was part of the discussions.

Sources said that the Kashmir issues was not discussed. Both sides are aware that the relations had strained owing to China's stand on Kashmir.

Prior to the meet, India had made it clear that it would keep discussions relating to Kashmir at a bare minimal. While during the long meetings between the two leaders a host of issues were discussed, Kashmir was kept off the table. It may have been spoken about, but it was not exactly a discussion.

Sources said that India's position that Kashmir is an internal issue would not change. There are chances that the issue would kept to bare minimal discussions or skipped entirely, the source had also said prior to the summit.

If the Kashmir issue crops up then there would be deadlock and both countries have other pressing issues to discuss. On Thursday, the Chinese foreign ministry said that its position on the Kashmir issue is consistent and clear.

Both countries would not want a deadlock and hence, Kashmir may be kept off the table entirely. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese premier Xi Jinping would focus on trade related issues and security matters.

India's security concerns over the Huawei 5G trials which is due in the next couple of weeks would also be discussed during the summit. India would however allow a Huawei demo at a mobile and telecom conference to be held in New Delhi next week.

The Special Representatives of the two countries are scheduled to hold boundary talks in the near future. This would be followed by defence, counter terrorism and border management issues. The two leaders are expected to discuss these issues, which in turn would guide the negotiations between the Special Representatives.

Officials explain that the objective of the summit would be to ensure that the communication flow between the two leaders is smooth. The objective is to ensure that the communication is informal and not a structured one. During a briefing an official had said that the communication between the two leaders would not be structured, where prepared statements are read out in a much more practical way.