S Jaishankar to visit Beijing to prepare for PM Narendra Modi-Xi Jinping second informal summit

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will visit Bejing this month to prepare for the second informal summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in India later this year.

Jaishankar is the first Indian minister to visit China after the Narendra Modi government came to power for a second consecutive term.

Jaishankar is expected to hold a wide range of talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi to finalise XI Jinping's visit to India. According to reports, they would also address the 4th India-China Media Summit Forum on August 12.

Modi and Xi had met in Wuhan in April, 2018 for their first informal summit in order to deepen bilateral cooperation.

The External Affairs Minister is currently in Thailand to attend a host of engagements. Earlier on Friday, he participated at the 9th East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers' Meeting (EAS FMM).

On Thursday, Jaishankar addressed ASEAN-India Ministerial Meeting and Mekong Ganga Cooperation (MGC) Ministerial Meeting and met 10 of his counterparts. 

Talking about connectivity, he said, "India seeks greater connect with the ASEAN region. We envision connectivity within the region in very broad terms including physical, economic and political and close contact at people to people level."

"The historic, cultural, economic political that have existed between India and ASEAN region are the stepping stones to achieve the vision of a more connected India and ASEAN region and a closer partnership," he added.

(With inputs from agencies)