The international speculation over the “green train”, in which Kim Jong-un travelled from Pyongyang to Beijing and back has ended with Xinhua putting out visuals of Xi Jinping greeting the North Korean leader at the Great Hall of the People.

Both leaders have confirmed Kim’s secret trip to Beijing. In point of fact, it is scarcely the secret both leaders might have initially planned. They have now signalled their intent to forge strong ties despite a recent chill.

Markedly, the statement has been advanced two months ahead of Kim’s meeting with Donald Trump. Implicit is the North’s anxiety to counter any impression that the equation with Beijing had chilled in the aftermath of Kim’s development of nuclear weapons and long-range missiles… with a trans-Atlantic target.

In a sense, the groundwork has been prepared for another summit at the high table in Pyongyang. It is now established that the unofficial visit was undertaken at Xi’s invitation, indeed Kim’s first trip to a foreign country since he took over in 2011.

After seven years, therefore, President Kim can be said to have come out of the cloister before the historic meeting with President Trump. He may have eventually realised that North Korea’s unsplendid isolation can neither help the country nor the cause of international relations.

Self-imposed seclusion has its limitations. The North is anxious too to shore up its economy, now reeling under the impact of sanctions. The visit also underlines the fact that Beijing remains one of North Korea’s most important allies and is chiefly, a country that cannot be sidelined in denuclearisation talks. “We speak highly of this visit,” was Xi’s immediate response after the talks.

Kim must have been anxious to consult China ahead of his scheduled meeting with his South Korean counterpart, Moon Jae-in… to be followed by the interaction with Trump. China too would want the world to know that its presence would loom over the bilateral meetings.

Both meetings are potentially dramatic developments; the meeting with Xi in Beijing has been momentous no less. Kim was described by Xinhua as saying that his country wants to transform ties with South Korea into “a relationship of reconciliation and cooperation.”

The two Koreas are still technically at war because their 1950-53 conflict had ended in an armistice, and not a peace treaty. The meeting with Xi can, therefore, be contextualised with Kim’s purported attempt to mend fences with South Korea and the United States.

Though the world has been kept guessing over what transpired at the Great Hall of the People, it is pretty obvious that the North is attempting a diplomatic outreach this year.

It was a tense 2017 when it conducted its most powerful nuclear test to date and tested three intercontinental ballistic missiles designed to target the US mainland. China remains North Korea’s only major ally and chief provider of energy, aid and trade that keep the country’s shattered economy afloat.