India�s Prime Minister Narendra Modi will host Chinese President Xi Jinping for an

informal summit later this week, the Indian foreign ministry said, with the talks
coming at a time when ties have been strained over occupied Kashmir.

The meeting in the southern Indian city of Chennai on Oct 11-12 is aimed at
enhancing the rapport formed by the two leaders when they met in the Chinese city
of Wuhan last year to help stabilize ties after a standoff in another contested
section of their long border, far removed from Kashmir.

But New Delhi�s decision in August to withdraw special status for occupied Kashmir
drew sharp condemnation from Pakistan and its ally China, which took the matter to
the United Nations Security Council.

�The forthcoming Chennai Informal Summit will provide an opportunity for the two
leaders to continue their discussions on overarching issues of bilateral, regional
and global importance and to exchange views on deepening India-China Closer
Development Partnership,� the Indian foreign ministry said in a statement on
Wednesday.

India insists its revocation of the special status of Muslim-majority occupied

Kashmir is an internal matter and aimed at faster economic development of the
Himalayan territory. China said it believed India and Pakistan must refrain from
taking unilateral action in Kashmir and has expressed concern over human rights
violations in the territory. India has dismissed those concerns.

�The second informal meeting as such is significant given these ominous signals at
bilateral, regional and global levels,� said Srikanth Kondapalli, professor of
Chinese studies at New Delhi�s Jawaharlal Nehru University.

�Stabilizing relations is important as both are seized with a number of issues �

domestic as well as regional,� he said.

Ahead of Xi�s trip to India, China invited Prime Minister Imran Khan for talks on
bilateral issues. China supports Pakistan in safeguarding its independent
sovereignty and territorial integrity, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said on Tuesday
as he met Imran.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Tuesday said President Xi had
taken Pakistan into confidence over his upcoming trip to India.

"The nature of our relations is such that we take each other into confidence at
every step," Qureshi said.

India and China lay claim to territories thousands of miles to the east along the
Himalayas and fought a brief border in 1962.

In recent years, India has drawn closer to both the United States, with which it
has built closer military ties, and Japan.

During Xi�s visit, Modi is expected to raise economic issues, including India�s $53
billion trade deficit with China in 2018/19, and the smaller presence of Indian
companies in China compared with other major economies.

China, for its part, is expected to urge New Delhi to take an independent decision
on telecom equipment maker Huawei�s bid for India�s proposed 3G network and not be
swayed by US pressure that it was a security risk.

Sources had told Reuters in August that Beijing had warned of �reverse sanctions�
on Indian firms engaged in business in China should India block Huawei Technologies
because of pressure from Washington.

During the upcoming meeting, officials said Modi and Xi will tour the coastal town
of Mamallapuram, near Chennai, home to an 8th century temple.