“At the invitation of the president of China, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Xiamen in China’s Fujian province during September 3-5 to attend the 9th BRICS summit,” the ministry of external affairs said in a statement.

 

Departing from past practices wherein important visit of president or prime minister was announced by holding a press conference by foreign secretary or MEA spokesperson, this was for the first time the announcement was made by issuing press release, indicating clearly that the MEA doesn’t want to expose itself to queries from journalists, especially given that China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying’s in a regular press conference on August 28 said: “About 2.30 PM of August 28, the Indian side withdrew all its border personnel and equipment that were illegally on the Chinese territory to the Indian side. The Chinese personnel onsite have verified this situation. China will continue fulfilling its sovereign rights to safeguard territorial sovereignty in compliance with the stipulation of the border-related history.”

 

Not a single word was uttered by the Chinese spokesperson on the withdrawal of Chinese troops from Doklam. 

Even as India was clear that “expeditious disengagement of border personnel at the face-off site at Doklam has been agreed to”. 

 

Talking to Governance Now, sources said Hua Chunying’s statement should be seen in the context of China’s face saving effort. “If Modi would have refused to go to China to attend BRICS summit, China could have suffered huge embarrassment. It would have been seen as China’s biggest foreign policy failure, an issue that Chinese president Xi Jinping would have never liked.”    

 

After attending BRICS summit, Modi will fly to Myanmar for his first three-day bilateral visit beginning on September 5. India is engaged in several infrastructure and institution building development in Myanmar. 

 

“This will be Modi’s first bilateral State visit to Myanmar. During the visit, the prime minister will hold discussions with state counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi on matters of mutual interest and also call on president U Htin Kyaw. Apart from his engagements in the capital city of Nay Pyi Taw, he will visit Yangon and Bagan,” MEA said in its statement.