China's Xi and India's Modi to hold summit this week amid strains

Beijing-Delhi relations have been strained after later revoked Occupied Kashmir's autonomy

NEW DELHI: India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and China's President Xi Jinping will hold an informal summit in southern India on Friday, officials said, amid strains in their relationship.

The meeting follows months of niggling between the world's two most populous nations over trade, border disputes, and their respective diplomatic moves.

India's foreign ministry has not formally announced the meeting in the Tamil Nadu town of Mamallapuram, known for its historic temples and architecture.

But it has opened media registration for a "second India-China informal summit", and Chinese officials have been scouting out the seaside town for several weeks.

Indian media reports said Xi and Modi will visit Mamallapuram's attractions on the follow up to their first informal summit in Wuhan, China, in April last year.



That meeting followed an intense high-altitude stand-off at a disputed border post in the Himalayas.

Xi is expected to leave on Saturday, as Nepalese media have said he will visit Kathmandu this weekend on his way back from the India talks.

The historic rivalry between India and China has been strained in recent months after Beijing criticised New Delhi's decision to revoke Occupied Kashmir's autonomy.

Beijing singled out India's decision to create a separate administrative territory in Ladakh, a Buddhist-dominated part of Kashmir, as part of the change.

China also claims parts of the Ladakh region, perched on a steep Himalayan border with China's Xinjiang to its north and Tibet to the east.

"India has continued to undermine China's territorial sovereignty by unilaterally changing its domestic law," China's foreign ministry said in August.