India, China in touch for second informal summit: Ministry of External Affairs

The Ministry of External Affairs has said that both India and China are in touch with each other regarding the second informal summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping that will take place in India later this year. The summit is likely to take place in October, though the venue hasn't been decided. 

The Ministry of External Affairs in its release said, "The two sides are in touch, through diplomatic channels, to finalise the date and venue for the meeting. Details about the visit will be announced in due course after the details are finalised."

During the first Informal Summit in Wuhan last year, Chinese President Xi had accepted PM Modi's invitation to visit India for the next Informal summit in 2019. 

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The Wuhan summit, which happened in the backdrop of the Doklam crisis of 2017, is considered an important milestone in Indo-China ties as it helped re-set the ties between the two Asian neighbours. 

The Doklam crisis saw over a two-month-long standoff between Indian and Chinese forces after Bejing attempted to build a road in the Bhutanese territory of Doklam. 

Chinese President Xi Jinping and PM Modi met four times in 2018 starting with Wuhan summit followed by meetings on the sidelines of the SCO, BRICS and G20 summits. 

After the PM Modi's re-election, Chinese president Xi Jinping had written a letter to him congratulating him on his victory.  In the letter, President Xi noted the "great importance he attached to the development of India-China relations" and his "desire to work with Prime Minister Modi to take the Closer Development Partnership between the two countries to a new height", according to an MEA release.

The two leaders are likely to meet on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Kyrgyzstan in June.