PM Modi-President Xi Jinping: A study in contrast

Here is a look at the contrast between PM Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping as the two leaders meet at the second India-China informal summit in Mamallapuram, Chennai.

PM Modi has emerged stronger after the re-election in 2019. While multiple domestic crises in China have negatively impacted the image of its leader.

(Image shows Chinese President Xi Jinping and PM Modi in Hubei Provincial Museum in Wuhan, China April 27, 2018.)

China has been criticised by the United States for its treatment of members of Muslim ethnic minorities. Some rights groups call the crisis in Xinjiang as "historic".

"China has forcibly detained over one million Muslims in a brutal, systematic campaign to erase religion and culture in Xinjiang," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had said earlier.

"China must end its draconian surveillance and repression, release all those arbitrarily detained and cease its coercion of Chinese Muslims abroad," he said.

Hong Kong has been gripped by several months of rallies due to protest that initially sparked by a now-scrapped plan to allow extraditions to mainland China.

The protests have since snowballed into a much wider movement of popular anger against city leaders and Beijing. 

The protests escalated during China's 70th birthday when thousands marched through the strife-torn city. Millions hit the streets in record-breaking numbers while hardcore activists have repeatedly clashed with police, in the biggest challenge to China's rule since the city's 1997 handover by Britain.

In recent years, India has drawn closer relations with the United States.

Washington, on the other hand, has accused China of attempting to dominate global industry through massive state intervention in markets, theft of intellectual property, hacking and subsidies.

US and China have been at loggerheads due to year-long trade war dispute. China and the US have embroiled in a bruising that has seen tariffs slapped on billions of dollars worth of goods in two-way trade. Several months of tit-for-tat moves by both sides have weakened global growth and driven rollercoaster moves in markets.

India-US trade was worth $142.1 billion in 2018 with the United States $24.2 billion in deficit. The US-India Strategic Partnership Forum has predicted trade will go up to $238 billion by 2025.

The chemistry between PM Modi and US President Donald Trump has grown over the years. At the 'Howdy, Modi' event at the NRG Stadium in Houston, President Donald Trump hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi as one of the greatest friends of the United States.