Heartless articles about Asian leader’s talk (4,1,4)

I believe the answer is:

tete a tete

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But I can't explain it at all! Could you help me understand?

(Other definitions for tete a tete that I've seen before include "Privately" , "Small meeting" , "Sit here" , "Sofa" , "private conversation" .)

I've seen this clue in The Hindu.

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