India's decision to skip the meeting came after a year of bilateral discord over China's stubborn opposition to India's entry into the Nuclear Suppliers' Group and a UN ban against Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed leader Masood Azhar.
Russian President Vladimir Putin traveled to Beijing on Tuesday for the opening ceremony of the Belt and Road Forum at the Great Hall of the People.
Kremlin on Tuesday dismissed the reports claiming President Vladimir Putin is suffering from ill health and called it 'yet another canard'.
Russia proceeds "from the postulate, a negotiated solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has no alternatives," said Putin while speaking at the Commonwealth of Independent States summit in Bishkek, Kyrgystan on Friday.
Bhutan firmly abides by the one-China principle meaning Taiwan and Tibet are part of China and stands ready to work with China for an early settlement of the boundary issue and advance the political process of establishing diplomatic relations, it said.
'We will likely never know why Xi decided not to travel to New Delhi. One possible explanation could be his desire to avoid a meeting with US President Joe Biden.'
Speculation is rife that Xi is likely to make an attempt to initiate peace talks between Russia and Ukraine to end the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
In a sharp reaction, India said such activities are "inherently illegal, illegitimate and unacceptable".
Beijing was caught by surprise as Kishida, who was on an official visit to New Delhi from March 19-21, entered Poland from India using a secretly chartered plane instead of the standard government aircraft, Japanese TV channel NHK reported.
According to some media reports, the Modi-Xi informal summit could take place from October 11-13.
If and when India and Pakistan bilateral talks take place any issues concerning Jammu and Kashmir will not be on the table. Any future talks with Pakistan will be only about PoK, tactically or otherwise.
India boycotted the Belt and Road Forum held from May 14-15.
'India cannot allow Beijing's policy of stabilising and destabilising the border at will to perpetuate its own ends.' A riveting excerpt from Manish Tiwari's 10 Flashpoints; 20 Years National Security Situations That Impacted India.
India skipped the Belt and Road Forum in May this year due to its sovereignty concerns.
China on Monday said there is no change in its stance on admission of non-NPT states into the Nuclear Suppliers Group
India's full membership of the grouping would extend its reach to the Central Asian region in whose peace and stability it is a major stakeholder, says Sana Hashmi.
It will not be to India's advantage to create misperceptions that it is bandwagoning with some Anglo-American project for regime change in Myanmar, argues Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a media briefing in Beijing that the BRI is an economic cooperation project and it does not involve territorial disputes.
Gokhale will be visiting China for regular consultations, the Indian Embassy in Beijing said on Saturday.
The BRI, a pet initiative of President Xi, is aimed at promoting network of roads, ports and rail networks all over the world to spread China's influence.
Both leaders also exchanged views on the situations in South Asia, an official Chinese statement said about the meeting between Xi and Khan.
We must see New Delhi's position as a signal of competition to the Chinese grand design for the 21st century world, says Nitin Pai.
'Listing Masood Azhar as a 'global terrorist' was done with Islamabad and Imran Khan's concurrence.' 'It was not prompted by the so-called 'Wuhan spirit'.' 'The relationship between the two 'iron brothers' has not been dented,' points out former RA&W officer and China expert Jayadeva Ranade.
'Chinese companies have acquired stakes in 13 ports in Europe, including in Greece, Spain and, most recently, Belgium.' 'Those ports handle about 10 percent of Europe's shipping container capacity,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Observers say China's repeated invitations to India to join the BRI highlights its own anxieties over the adverse impact of New Delhi's lack of support to the multi-billion dollar investments in South Asia as it would deny access to India's market consisting over 1.2 billion people.
The fighter plane has been untraceable since Tuesday.
The Chinese Communist Party's all important 19th Party Congress is just months away, and President Xi Jinping finds himself confronting unlikely challenges to his pre-eminent position, says former RA&W officer and China watcher Jayadeva Ranade.
'Whichever option India chooses, it should be clear to the government that the China-Pakistan nexus poses a clear and present danger to national security,' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
'The fact that Modi and Xi exuded confidence to accelerate the negotiations for a border settlement alone underscores that the Russia-India-China triangle has become very dynamic,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
China will also set up 50 joint laboratories with countries participating in the Belt and Road initiative to enhance cooperation on innovation.
'Does the country risk being enclosed in a geographical cocoon if it spurns a multi-continent project for which everyone else has signed up,' asks T N Ninan.
Indonesia is not even counted as a next-door neighbour of India, though the southern-most tip of India is less than a hundred miles away from the northern-most tip of Indonesia. Bringing Indonesia back in the mainstream of the Indian strategic calculus is a step long overdue, says Dr Rahul Mishra.
It is the first meeting between the two leaders after India boycotted the high-profile Belt and Road Forum.
The master plan reveals a far more expansive project involving Chinese penetration into Pakistan's agriculture, industry, telecommunications, surveillance and intelligence networks and even leisure and popular culture.
The two leaders enjoyed the sunshine with a walk in the grounds of Schloss Meseberg, an 18th century Baroque castle in the Brandenburg district of Germany.
The decision to not attend the forum attended by 28 heads of state and 130 national delegations is a clear break from its usual policy of going along with the crowd.
Diplomats agree that amid stormy relations with China and Pakistan, Modi has posted impressive foreign policy successes, notes Aditi Phadnis.
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