PM Modi accepts Xi's invitation for third 'informal summit'

New Delhi: Chinese President Xi Jinping, on Saturday, invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the third informal summit in China as the two leaders met in Chennai for over 24 hours.

The Prime Minister has accepted the invitation, and the two leaders appraised the practice of informal summits as providing an “important opportunity to deepen dialogue and to promote mutual understanding at the Leaders’ level,” Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement, The Indian Express reported.

Xi commended PM Modi for taking the initiative to hold these kinds of summits, saying it was a “good idea”.

The Chinese President left for Nepal following today’s deliberations with Modi as well as delegation-level talks at Kovalam near Chennai. Both the leaders also held parleys on several issues in the coastal town of Mahabalipuram in Tamil Nadu on Friday.

Building on the ‘Wuhan spirit’, the Prime Minister spoke of “Chennai connect” for a new era of cooperation between India and China, as Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said that a new mechanism will be set up for issues relating to trade and investment.

Meanwhile, on border issues, MEA said that the two leaders “reiterated their understanding that efforts will continue to be made to ensure peace and tranquillity in the border areas, and that both sides will continue to work on additional confidence-building measures.”

Both India and China welcomed the work of the special representatives and urged them to continue their efforts to arrive at a mutually-agreed framework for a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable settlement.

The MEA statement did not mention anything on Kashmir. The Foreign Secretary had earlier denied stating that the Kashmir issue was not raised and discussed by either.

“Our position is anyway very clear that this is an internal matter of India,” he said. Meanwhile, to deepen bilateral relations, both Modi and Xi have decided that the 70th anniversary of the establishment of India-China relations in 2020 will be utilised to deepen exchanges at all levels including legislatures, political parties, cultural and youth organisations and militaries.

The ministry added that India-China agreed that a stable environment in the region is important to ensure the prosperity and stability of the region and agreed that the international situation is witnessing a significant readjustment.

Earlier in the day, PM Modi held talks with Xi at Taj Fisherman’s Cove in Kovalam where they decided to “manage their differences prudently” and “will not let them become disputes”.

“We had decided to prudently manage differences and not to allow them to become disputes. We had decided that we will be sensitive towards each other’s concerns,” Modi said.