PM Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping may meet in Mahabalipuram for the 2nd informal meet

Chinese President Xi Jinping is likely to visit the historic city of Mahabalipuram near Chennai for his second informal summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi next week, a news report said.

India is yet to formally announce the dates of the meeting.

Meanwhile, according to reports, China will host Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on October 8, which comes days ahead of the summit between PM Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping. This will be Imran Khan's third visit to China after assuming office, reported news agency ANI.

President Xi's visit to India comes at a time when China has expressed concern over the reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir. Beijing had also asked the United Nations Security Council on the behest of Pakistan to hold a closed-door meeting on Kashmir.

From early this year, India and China were in touch for the second informal summit between Prime Minister Modi and Chinese President Xi.

In August, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had also visited China to prepare the ground for the second informal summit between the two leaders.

PM Modi and President Xi had met last year in Wuhan, China, for an informal summit in order to deepen bilateral cooperation. That meeting came following the 73-day standoff in Doklam plateau in 2017, which strained bilateral ties between the two countries.

At Wuhan, PM Modi had expressed hope that such informal summits would become a tradition between the two countries.

