Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrive for the Dialogue of Emerging Market and Developing Countries on the sideline of the BRICS Summit in Xiamen, China, Sept. 5, 2017. (Wu Hong/Pool Photo via AP)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday in a “forward-looking” discussion. It was their first meeting after the Doklam border stand-off was resolved.
PM Modi said, “We held fruitful talks on bilateral relations between India and China.”
Foreign secretary S Jaishankar said that the two leaders reaffirmed that it is in the interest of both India and China to have good relations. There was a forward-looking and constructive approach taken by both sides during the Modi-Xi meeting, he said.
He said that it was a ‘forward-looking’ conversation between the two leaders. There was a sense that if relationship is to go forward, then peace and tranquility on border areas must be maintained, said the foreign secretary.
Counter-terrorism issues were taken up during the course of BRICS and they were not discussed in the bilateral meeting, he added. He recalled that they had agreed at Astana that they will not let differences become disputes. He said it is natural that there will be areas of differences between two neighbours and that efforts should be made to find a solution.
The meeting, that lasted for an hour, comes amid diplomatic efforts by the two sides to overcome the bitterness caused by the 73-day face-off between their troops in the Dokalam area of the Sikkim sector.
