Xi-Modi Meet: India to push China for Nirav Modi extradition from Hong Kong

BEIJING: India may push for extradition of fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi from Hong Kong during the “informal summit” between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese president Xi Jinping on April 27-28.
Nirav Modi, who is accused of defrauding several banks, including Punjab National Bank, before fleeing India, is suspected to be hiding in Hong Kong. New Delhi has requested Beijing to find him and deport him to India.Sources said apart from the border dispute between India and China, Nirav Modi’s extradition is likely to be discussed between the two sides later this week.
China has left it to the local authorities in Hong Kong to take a decision but it is no secret that Beijing will take the final call because Nirav Modi has strong connections with Hong Kong-based billionaires. Getting him deported to India would boost the government image which is something that Beijing would use as a bargaining chip, sources said.
Meanwhile, Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman joined external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj in Beijing on Monday evening in the task of laying the ground for the Modi-Xi summit.
Sitharaman will attend the meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization along with Swaraj and ministers from China, Russia, and central Asian countries on Tuesday.
China signalled the extent of its seriousness about the Modi-Xi summit when Chinese vice-president Wang Qishan, the former anti-corruption czar who is regarded to be close to Xi, held a meeting with Swaraj on Monday. Wang said he expected the two top leaders to reach "more strategic consensus" on bilateral ties and issues of common concern.
The Modi-Xi summit is seen by both sides as an essential move but also something that carries serious risks. The border dispute, which resulted in a 72-day standoff at Doklam until last August, will be the most important focus area. Officials on both sides are closely reviewing the multi-dimensional aspect of the boundary dispute to identify specific areas where concrete steps could be taken instead of adding to the several dispute resolution mechanisms that are already in place, sources said.
Talking about the Modi-Xi summit, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said, "During this meeting, the two leaders will discuss the changes that have taken place and which are unprecedented in the past 100 years and exchange views on the strategic, over-arching and long-term issues concerning our bilateral relations".