Agencies
NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 18
IF sources from PMO are to be believed, choosing Gujarat as a place to hold talks with Chinese President was actually a ploy by Modi led Govt. to keep the Chinese delegation farthest away from Arunachal Pradesh.
“Yes, it was a precautionary exercise and well thought of decision. We didn’t want to let even a whiff of Arunachal’s air to pass through Xi-Jinping’s nostrils. It could have led to talks being derailed; hence we chose a place which was geographically farthest away from Arunachal Pradesh,” a source from PMO confirmed.Holding talks anywhere close to Arunachal Pradesh would have carried huge risk of Chinese delegation getting distracted and forgetting why they were India in first place.
“It’s like if you are an engineer appearing for a job interview, and you encounter a good looking HR, you forget all your concepts and all your preparation goes for a toss,” the PMO source explained.
With this clarification, PMO also hopes to put rest to all speculations over why Gujarat was given preferential treatment by Ex state CM turned PM, and chosen ahead of any other state.
Before finalizing Gujarat, Govt wanted to play it so safe that they were even considering a plan to construct a standalone island in the middle of Arabian Sea off Gujarat sea coast, where bilateral talks would have happened.
But the idea was dropped after it was found to be economically not feasible.
“Also that would have put borders of African nations into danger,” pointed the PMO source.
Meanwhile now that Chinese President has moved to Delhi, talks are on to convince him to extend his duration of stay by 2 more days.
“If he agrees, we will hold some more talks, but this time in Kanyakumari. This way he would be farthest away from Ladakh as well,” the source from PMO chuckled.
Assam CM Gogoi asks PM Modi to take up Brahmaputra dam issue
PTI
GUWAHATI, SEPTEMBER 18
ASSAM Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take up the issue of construction of dams on the Brahmaputra river by China with visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Gogoi, in a letter to Prime Minister Modi, said there were serious concerns about the construction of dams by China over the Brahmaputra as it would adversely impact downstream flows.
“It is feared that construction of the dams is likely to trigger fresh concerns on how the flow of Brahmaputra downstream will be affected. It would be most appropriate to convey India’s concerns to the visiting Chinese President,” Gogoi said.
The Chief Minister also hoped that the visit of the Chinese President would help to deepen trade ties and boost Chinese investment in India, particularly in Assam and other states of the North East Region.
“As the visiting Chinese President is expected to pledge billions of dollars in investment, including plans for Chinese-funded industrial parks, we hope to get a fair share of it in infrastructure and other sectors in Assam,” he said.
